California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives $54.67 Average Price Target from Brokerages

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the four research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.67.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CWT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $50.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.64 and a twelve month high of $56.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth $37,998,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,642,000 after acquiring an additional 158,295 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 308,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,994,000 after acquiring an additional 147,043 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 634,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,747,000 after purchasing an additional 110,962 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.