California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

CWT has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on California Water Service Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut California Water Service Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

CWT stock opened at $45.62 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.29 and a 52-week high of $50.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.53.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 7.06% and a net margin of 11.77%.The business had revenue of $214.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total value of $160,210.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,756.50. This trade represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael B. Luu sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total value of $32,952.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 23,655 shares in the company, valued at $1,053,357.15. This trade represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,432 shares of company stock valued at $412,810. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in California Water Service Group by 67.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in California Water Service Group by 291.1% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in California Water Service Group in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. 82.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.