California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives $54.25 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the four research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.25.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet cut shares of California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report 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, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CWT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,614,000. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $102,936,000 after purchasing an additional 479,457 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,877,000 after purchasing an additional 270,786 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,867,000 after purchasing an additional 240,944 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 782.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 184,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,545,000 after purchasing an additional 163,160 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $49.08 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $58.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.31.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $270.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.85 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 106.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.40) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

About California Water Service Group

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.