Short Interest in California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Declines By 14.2%

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 686,200 shares, a decrease of 14.2% from the April 30th total of 799,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 392,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $340,642,000 after acquiring an additional 158,295 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.3% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,029,785 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $146,824,000 after buying an additional 67,002 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 35.4% in the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,017,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $97,769,000 after buying an additional 527,343 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,689,977 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,607,000 after purchasing an additional 79,658 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $61,670,000 after purchasing an additional 22,192 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.6%

CWT traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $45.56. 241,760 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 331,582. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $41.64 and a one year high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $48.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.99.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $203.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. California Water Service Group's revenue for the quarter was down 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised California Water Service Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on California Water Service Group from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

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.