California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of California Water Service Group stock opened at $51.84 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.29 and a 52 week high of $52.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.44.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The firm had revenue of $214.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.27 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,100 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $48,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $805,904. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total value of $160,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,030,756.50. This represents a 13.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 277,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,723,000 after acquiring an additional 35,627 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,322,000 after acquiring an additional 34,155 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,825,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,094,000 after acquiring an additional 60,931 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,357,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in California Water Service Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,197,000. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.