California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives $54.67 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the four analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.67.

CWT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.4 %

CWT stock opened at $50.81 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.88 and a 200-day moving average of $48.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.37 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 79.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 56,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,719,000 after buying an additional 24,904 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 121.4% during the 1st quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 49,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 26,956 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 686.4% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 4,124.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 41,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 40,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 751.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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.