California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the four analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CWT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $45.57 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.69. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $52.33.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $311.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.35 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CWT. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the third quarter valued at about $293,000. Maven Securities LTD acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,244,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in California Water Service Group by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 84,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,864,000 after purchasing an additional 4,120 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.