California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CWT. TheStreet downgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $54.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of CWT opened at $47.93 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $43.50 and a 52 week high of $58.30. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.56.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.00. The firm had revenue of $270.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.85 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business’s revenue was up 106.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.40) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CWT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,877,000 after purchasing an additional 270,786 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.3% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,175,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,936,000 after buying an additional 479,457 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 3.1% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,570,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,313,000 after buying an additional 47,266 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,249,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 28.2% during 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 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.