California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.25.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CWT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 1.3 %

CWT opened at $44.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.50 and a 200-day moving average of $50.74. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $41.64 and a 52 week high of $56.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,231. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 255.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 50.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $85,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $119,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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.