Michael Luu Sells 740 Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Stock

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) VP Michael Luu sold 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total value of $32,952.20. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 23,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,053,357.15. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.4%

CWT opened at $44.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.29 and a one year high of $51.63. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.28.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $265.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.10 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 12.82%.The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in California Water Service Group by 3,318.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 291.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end?to?end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor?owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.