California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 2.0 %

CWT stock opened at $48.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.31. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.64 and a 52-week high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CWT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,642,000 after purchasing an additional 158,295 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,689,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,607,000 after buying an additional 79,658 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,670,000 after buying an additional 22,192 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 979,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,384,000 after acquiring an additional 113,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 928,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,073,000 after acquiring an additional 49,107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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.