Brokerages Set California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) PT at $54.25

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.25.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CWT shares. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet lowered California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,614,000. Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,175,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,936,000 after buying an additional 479,457 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $335,877,000 after buying an additional 270,786 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,867,000 after buying an additional 240,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 782.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 184,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,545,000 after acquiring an additional 163,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 1.4 %

CWT stock opened at $49.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $43.50 and a 52-week high of $58.30.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $270.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.40) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 106.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 2.28%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.80%.

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.