California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives $58.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the three ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.00.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on California Water Service Group from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CWT. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,532,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 1.1 %

CWT stock opened at $48.52 on Tuesday. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $48.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $203.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.80 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 52.63%.

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.