California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Short Interest Up 14.3% in January

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 771,900 shares, a growth of 14.3% from the December 31st total of 675,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 304,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity

In other California Water Service Group news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $50,727.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,231. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 70.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,450,000 after purchasing an additional 26,299 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 55.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,765,000 after buying an additional 57,811 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 297.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 22,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after buying an additional 16,966 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,559,000 after buying an additional 24,275 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the third quarter worth $588,000. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of 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 California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of CWT opened at $45.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.63. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.64 and a 52-week high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 34.68%.

About California Water Service Group

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.