Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ:CWCO) Raises Dividend to $0.14 Per Share

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ:CWCO - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, June 2nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This is a 27.3% increase from Consolidated Water's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

Consolidated Water has raised its dividend by an average of 6.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Consolidated Water has a payout ratio of 27.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Consolidated Water to earn $1.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.4%.

Consolidated Water Price Performance

CWCO stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $27.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 49,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 109,092. Consolidated Water has a twelve month low of $22.69 and a twelve month high of $29.88. The company's fifty day moving average price is $24.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $431.43 million, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.39.

Consolidated Water (NASDAQ:CWCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $33.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $32.30 million. Consolidated Water had a net margin of 23.06% and a return on equity of 12.98%. Equities analysts expect that Consolidated Water will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Consolidated Water from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CWCO. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Consolidated Water by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 46,480 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 13,686 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Consolidated Water by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,418 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Consolidated Water by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 171,037 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,189,000 after buying an additional 13,061 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Consolidated Water in the 1st quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Consolidated Water in the 1st quarter valued at about $130,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.16% of the company's stock.

Consolidated Water Company Profile

Consolidated Water Co Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, constructs, manages, and operates water production and water treatment plants primarily in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and the United States. The company operates through four segments: Retail, Bulk, Services, and Manufacturing.