Zacks Research Has Positive Estimate for CWT FY2026 Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded California Water Service Group's FY2026 EPS estimate to $2.57, marginally up from the previous estimate of $2.56, showing positive sentiment about the company's future earnings.
• The company reported $0.71 EPS for Q2, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.46, and noted an 8.5% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.
• California Water Service Group declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30, representing an annualized yield of 2.7% and a payout ratio of 52.40%.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research upped their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of California Water Service Group in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, September 16th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.57 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.56. The consensus estimate for California Water Service Group's current full-year earnings is $3.15 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for California Water Service Group's Q1 2027 earnings at $0.28 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.77 EPS.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $264.95 million during 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%.California Water Service Group's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on CWT. Wall Street Zen raised California Water Service Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $56.00.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.4%

CWT traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.41. 945,005 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 264,378. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.50. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.64 and a 52 week high of $54.75.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,029,785 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $146,824,000 after buying an additional 67,002 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,017,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $97,769,000 after buying an additional 527,343 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in California Water Service Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,907,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $91,386,000 after acquiring an additional 16,346 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in California Water Service Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $64,458,000 after acquiring an additional 14,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 985,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,740,000 after acquiring an additional 56,993 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company's stock.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio 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.