California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Thomas M. Krummel Sells 555 Shares of Stock

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $30,153.15. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,750.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

CWT opened at $54.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $43.50 and a twelve month high of $55.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.89.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 57,000.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 90.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $85,000. 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 acquiring an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.67.

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.