Brokerages Set California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Target Price at $54.25

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the four research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.25.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CWT shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $50.57 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.50 and a fifty-two week high of $58.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.56.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.00. The business had revenue of $270.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.85 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.40) earnings per share. Analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 2,220 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $111,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,193,650. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 57,000.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 47.3% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 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.