California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the three research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CWT. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $56.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, July 28th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 3.9 %

CWT opened at $52.48 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.65 and a 200-day moving average of $51.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.89 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $45.44 and a 1-year high of $66.12.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 3rd. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 144.44%.

Insider Activity

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 2,220 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $111,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,286 shares in the company, valued at $1,414,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,331,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $533,408,000 after purchasing an additional 30,785 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,624,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $349,034,000 after acquiring an additional 79,168 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in California Water Service Group by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,369,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $298,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140,204 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in California Water Service Group by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,330,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,313,000 after purchasing an additional 126,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,278,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,552,000 after purchasing an additional 9,949 shares in the last quarter. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.