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

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,186,602 shares, a decrease of 19.1% from the November 30th total of 1,466,795 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 559,446 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 559,446 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $55.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $43.30. The company had a trading volume of 218,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,403. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.06 and a 200-day moving average of $45.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.65. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.29 and a 12 month high of $51.63.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.17). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The company had revenue of $311.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 52.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at about $30,757,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 19.4% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,276,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,318,000 after buying an additional 369,430 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 5,365.1% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 368,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,891,000 after buying an additional 361,339 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,979,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,548,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

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.