California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.28

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

California Water Service Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 58 consecutive years. California Water Service Group has a dividend payout ratio of 47.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect California Water Service Group to earn $2.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.1%.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $48.05 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $58.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 53.99 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $270.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.85 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 3.75% and a net margin of 6.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 106.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.40) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CWT. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TheStreet cut California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.25.

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.