California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Announces $0.28 Quarterly Dividend

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

California Water Service Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 58 years. California Water Service Group has a dividend payout ratio of 47.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect California Water Service Group to earn $2.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.1%.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.99. 48,854 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 362,458. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $43.50 and a 52-week high of $58.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.32. The company has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.21 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.00. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 3.75%. The firm had revenue of $270.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.40) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 106.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CWT shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TheStreet lowered shares of California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.25.

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.