Analysts Set California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Price Target at $53.67

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the four analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.50.

A number of research firms have recently commented on CWT. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE CWT opened at $48.51 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.61. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.50.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In related news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,231. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in California Water Service Group by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 31,412 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,559,000 after acquiring an additional 24,275 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 52.2% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 63,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after acquiring an additional 21,791 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 135.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 68,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 9,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 3,489 shares in the last quarter. 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.