Key Points
- Director Lester Snow sold 1,100 shares of California Water Service Group at an average price of $44.00, totaling about $48,400. After the sale, he still owned 18,316 shares worth roughly $805,904.
- The company recently reported mixed quarterly results, posting earnings of $0.07 per share versus analyst expectations of $0.25, while revenue came in at $214.57 million, ahead of estimates.
- California Water Service Group continues to pay a dividend, with its latest quarterly payout of $0.335 per share translating to an annualized yield of about 3.0% and a payout ratio of 67%.
California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) Director Lester Snow sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $48,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $805,904. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.
California Water Service Group Price Performance
Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $44.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $41.29 and a 1-year high of $50.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.70.
California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.California Water Service Group's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.00%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
CWT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.50.
View Our Latest Report on CWT
Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CWT. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 67.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 291.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About California Water Service Group
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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