California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Rating Increased 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 report sent to investors on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CWT. TheStreet lowered 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 lifted 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 report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $54.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $48.42 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $58.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 0.49. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.00. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $270.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.40) earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 106.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,867,000 after acquiring an additional 240,944 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,877,000 after acquiring an additional 270,786 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,488,000 after acquiring an additional 43,285 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 32,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 52,287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,474,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.