California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the three research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.67.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CWT shares. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America assumed coverage on California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

NYSE:CWT opened at $48.63 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a 12-month low of $43.50 and a 12-month high of $56.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.66. 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 announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Water Service Group

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

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in California Water Service Group by 4,565.4% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,053,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,103 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,823,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 135.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 68,914 shares in the last quarter. Arjuna Capital purchased a new stake in California Water Service Group during the 3rd quarter worth $3,724,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 354.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 76,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after buying an additional 59,956 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently 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.