Zacks Research Has Positive Forecast for CWT FY2027 Earnings

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research increased their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for shares of California Water Service Group in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.64 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.63. The consensus estimate for California Water Service Group’s current full-year earnings is $3.15 per share.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $311.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.35 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 13.61%.California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS.

CWT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price objective on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.00.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $44.76 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.13 and a 200-day moving average of $45.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.52. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.29 and a 1 year high of $51.63. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.64.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 3,195,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 31,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after purchasing an additional 31,956 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 16.1% during the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 29,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 4,165 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the second quarter valued at about $299,000. Capital Fund Management S.A. purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the second quarter worth about $1,153,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 130.1% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.