California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from analysts, with an average price target of $56.00.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.71, exceeding estimates, and achieved a revenue of $264.95 million for the quarter.
• California Water Service Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, translating to an annual yield of 2.7%.

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the three research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two 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 $56.00.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CWT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CWT. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 32.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 7.7% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 203,126 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,238,000 after buying an additional 14,521 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 128,057 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,833,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 664.7% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,464 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

CWT opened at $44.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.68. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.64 and a 52 week high of $54.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.53.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $264.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.20 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 13.71%.The firm's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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