California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $45.26 and traded as high as $46.20. California Water Service Group shares last traded at $45.6210, with a volume of 255,673 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 1.4%

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 stock has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.16 and a 200-day moving average of $45.26.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $265.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.10 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 12.82%.California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 62.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total transaction of $32,952.20. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 23,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,053,357.15. This trade represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael S. Mares, Jr. sold 3,892 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president owned 8,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,100. This represents a 31.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company 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 the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 1.5% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 17,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 32,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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.