California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives $56.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Key Points

• The consensus rating for California Water Service Group (CWT) is "Buy," with two analysts recommending a buy and one a strong buy, alongside an average price target of $56.00.
• In Q2, the company reported earnings per share of $0.71, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.46, with a revenue increase of 8.5% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, reflecting a 2.5% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 52.40%.

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $56.00.

A number of research firms recently commented on CWT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 shares of California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 751.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 681 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in California Water Service Group in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new position in California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 130.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:CWT traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $46.27. 223,593 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 250,982. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.19 and a 200 day moving average of $47.04. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.69.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.25. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The company had revenue of $264.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio is 52.40%.

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.