Short Interest in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Rises By 70.4%

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) saw a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,429,274 shares, a growth of 70.4% from the August 15th total of 1,425,414 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 468,427 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on CWT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings raised California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE CWT traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $47.34. 101,774 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 484,799. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.50. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.29 and a 52-week high of $53.82.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $308.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.50 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.37, for a total value of $186,369.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,012,638.48. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lester Snow sold 500 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total value of $25,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $894,591.57. This trade represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,009,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 129.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 52,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,398,000 after buying an additional 29,797 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter worth $1,927,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at $2,061,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in California Water Service Group by 416.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 257,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,696,000 after acquiring an additional 208,061 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a water utility holding company that provides regulated water service to residential, commercial, industrial and public-sector customers. Its operating companies collect, treat, test and distribute drinking water through local water systems, while also maintaining the wells, reservoirs, treatment facilities, pipelines and other infrastructure needed to deliver reliable service.

The company operates primarily through California Water Service Company, along with subsidiaries serving customers in Hawaii, New Mexico and Washington.