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

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the four analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.25.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CWT shares. UBS Group upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet cut California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $47.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.31. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $58.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $1.00. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $270.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.40) earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 106.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,614,000. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.3% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,175,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,936,000 after buying an additional 479,457 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,877,000 after buying an additional 270,786 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in California Water Service Group by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,867,000 after buying an additional 240,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in California Water Service Group by 782.3% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 184,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,545,000 after buying an additional 163,160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.