Zacks Research Has Positive Forecast for CWT Q2 Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research raised its Q2 2026 EPS estimate for California Water Service Group to $0.79 from $0.78, signaling a slightly more optimistic outlook ahead of earnings.
• The company previously reported Q1 results that missed EPS expectations, posting $0.07 per share versus the $0.25 consensus, though revenue came in above estimates at $214.57 million.
• California Water Service Group also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.335 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.1% at recent prices.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2026 EPS estimates for California Water Service Group in a research report issued on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.79 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.78. The consensus estimate for California Water Service Group's current full-year earnings is $2.56 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for California Water Service Group's Q3 2026 earnings at $1.33 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.56 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $2.71 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $0.35 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $2.76 EPS.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of California Water Service Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.4%

CWT stock opened at $42.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.51. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.29 and a 52 week high of $50.44. The company's 50-day moving average price is $44.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $214.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.27 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael S. Mares, Jr. sold 3,892 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $171,248.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,100. This trade represents a 31.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael B. Luu sold 740 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total transaction of $32,952.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 23,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,053,357.15. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 121,899 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 22,825 shares during the last quarter. South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 34,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 26.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,470,997 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,421,000 after purchasing an additional 732,004 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 100.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

California Water Service Group NYSE: CWT is a publicly traded holding company that provides regulated water utility services through its subsidiaries. The company delivers safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater management to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers across California, Hawaii and New Mexico. Its principal operating units include California Water Service, New Mexico Water Service and Hawaii Water Service, each responsible for end‐to‐end water supply operations—from source development and treatment to distribution and customer service.

Founded in 1926 as the California Water Service Company, the group has grown to become one of the largest investor‐owned water utilities in the United States by customer count.

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