California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) to Post FY2024 Earnings of $3.26 Per Share, Seaport Res Ptn Forecasts

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) – Investment analysts at Seaport Res Ptn increased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of California Water Service Group in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 24th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Storozynski now expects that the utilities provider will earn $3.26 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $2.25. The consensus estimate for California Water Service Group’s current full-year earnings is $2.59 per share.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CWT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet cut California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the 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 Performance

CWT stock opened at $49.08 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.31. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.50 and a fifty-two week high of $58.30.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly 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 10.09% and a net margin of 15.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 106.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.40) EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CWT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,877,000 after purchasing an additional 270,786 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,175,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,936,000 after buying an additional 479,457 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in California Water Service Group by 3.1% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,570,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,313,000 after buying an additional 47,266 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,249,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,789,000 after buying an additional 10,993 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 28.2% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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 given 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 (DPR) 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.