California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

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 over the next twelve months.
• The company recently reported earnings of $0.71 per share for the quarter, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $0.46, alongside an 8.5% year-over-year revenue increase.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.30 will be paid to investors on August 22nd, representing an annualized yield of 2.6%.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the three research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.00.

CWT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Water Service Group news, Director Lester A. Snow sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.51, for a total value of $55,812.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $1,225,491.99. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in California Water Service Group by 2.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,806 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Choreo LLC increased its position in California Water Service Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in California Water Service Group by 109.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in California Water Service Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 38,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company's stock.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $46.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.66. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company's 50-day moving average price is $45.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.82.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. California Water Service Group's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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