California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Issues Earnings Results

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05), Zacks reports. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CWT stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $45.45. 435,843 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 374,983. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.52. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.25.

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.