California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $54.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $50.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.04. 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 has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56.

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

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CWT. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 751.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 785.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter worth $78,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during 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.