Wells Fargo & Company Cuts California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Price Target to $55.00

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of CWT stock opened at $46.51 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.66. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.64 and a twelve month high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $264.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.20 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.51, for a total transaction of $55,812.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,225,491.99. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,029,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $146,824,000 after buying an additional 67,002 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,017,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,769,000 after buying an additional 527,343 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $76,607,000 after buying an additional 79,658 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $61,670,000 after buying an additional 22,192 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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.