Insider Selling: California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Director Sells 2,220 Shares of Stock

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 2,220 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $111,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,873 shares in the company, valued at $1,193,650. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $49.83. The company had a trading volume of 206,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 367,730. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $46.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $43.50 and a 52 week high of $58.30.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $270.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $183.85 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.42%. California Water Service Group's revenue for the quarter was up 106.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.40) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,614,000. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,175,780 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,936,000 after acquiring an additional 479,457 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $335,877,000 after purchasing an additional 270,786 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,867,000 after purchasing an additional 240,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 782.3% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 184,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,545,000 after purchasing an additional 163,160 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CWT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet cut California Water Service Group from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.25.

About California Water Service Group

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.

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