Analysts Set California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) PT at $55.67

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the four analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $55.6667.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 target price on California Water Service Group in a research note on Friday, October 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter worth $30,757,000. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 35.4% in the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,017,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,769,000 after acquiring an additional 527,343 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the first quarter valued at about $21,562,000. Amundi raised its position in California Water Service Group by 19.4% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,276,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,318,000 after purchasing an additional 369,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beck Bode LLC bought a new stake in California Water Service Group during the first quarter worth about $17,728,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

CWT stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $45.37. 180,743 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 367,765. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.31. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.64 and a 52-week high of $51.63. The company has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly 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). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 13.71%.The firm had revenue of $311.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 52.40%.

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.