Insider Selling: California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Sells $29,409.45 in Stock

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total value of $29,409.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,251,411.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $51.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.76 and its 200-day moving average is $48.01. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $54.85.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $270.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.85 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 106.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.40) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CWT. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 57,000.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 90.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 77.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on CWT. UBS Group upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.25.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services.