California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Reaches New 12-Month Low at $44.76

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $44.76 and last traded at $45.07, with a volume of 28565 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet downgraded California Water Service Group from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. UBS Group raised California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on California Water Service Group from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.08 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.54.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.98). The business had revenue of $214.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.41 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 3.75%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.79%. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.84%.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 58.6% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 731 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 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.