California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Trading Down 5.1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares fell 5.1% to about $44.55 on Monday, with intraday volume of 90,904 shares — roughly 77% below the average — after a prior close of $46.94.
• Quarterly beat: CWT reported $0.61 EPS vs. $0.36 expected and revenue of $265.6M vs. $239.1M, though revenue was down 1% year‑over‑year; analysts have a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating and a $55 price target.
• Dividend and insider moves: The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.335 (a 3.0% yield), while two VPs sold shares recently; institutional investors own roughly 82.8% of the stock.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 5.1% on Monday . The company traded as low as $45.05 and last traded at $44.5470. 90,904 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 390,369 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 4.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm's 50-day moving average is $45.31 and its 200 day moving average is $45.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.61.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.25. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The firm had revenue of $265.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. California Water Service Group's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In related news, VP Michael S. Mares, Jr. sold 3,892 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $171,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 8,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $375,100. This represents a 31.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael B. Luu sold 740 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total transaction of $32,952.20. Following the sale, the vice president 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $574,000. Ketron Financial purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $299,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,337,205 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $144,602,000 after buying an additional 36,296 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 954,234 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,347,000 after purchasing an additional 57,170 shares during the period. Finally, Virtue Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About California Water Service Group

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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