California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

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 research firms have also recently weighed in on CWT. TheStreet cut shares of California Water Service Group from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of California Water Service Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, 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 research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $54.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of CWT opened at $47.93 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $58.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.11 and its 200-day moving average is $48.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $270.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.40) earnings per share. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 44.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 64.4% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 57,000.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 47.3% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 93.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About California Water Service Group

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.