California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the four brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.25.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.26, for a total value of $29,559.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,241,916.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.26, for a total value of $29,559.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,241,916.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 2,220 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $111,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,873 shares in the company, valued at $1,193,650. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 40.8% in the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,013,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,079,000 after buying an additional 872,865 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,614,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,877,000 after purchasing an additional 270,786 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,867,000 after purchasing an additional 240,944 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,957,000. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $48.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 0.48. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $43.50 and a 52-week high of $54.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.35.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $270.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.85 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 10.09%. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 106.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.40) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

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.