California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 661,600 shares, a decline of 13.9% from the January 31st total of 768,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 352,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CWT. Bank of America initiated coverage on California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 3.0 %

NYSE CWT traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.19. 105,520 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 367,018. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.64 and a 52 week high of $56.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.43. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,642,000 after buying an additional 158,295 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 4.9% in the fourth 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.7% in the fourth 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. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 979,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,384,000 after purchasing an additional 113,622 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 928,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,073,000 after acquiring an additional 49,107 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, 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.