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

Key Points

• California Water Service Group was upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Wells Fargo & Company has lowered its price objective for CWT shares from $59.00 to $55.00, while also maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• The firm reported strong quarterly earnings of $0.71 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations and achieving an 8.5% revenue increase year-over-year.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT stock opened at $46.51 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.98 and a 200 day moving average of $46.66. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.66.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.25. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 13.71%. The business 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 company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CWT. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 751.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 681 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 785.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company's stock.

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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