California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

NYSE CWT traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $51.96. 459,991 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 326,721. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.56 and its 200-day moving average is $51.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 0.49. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $43.50 and a 52-week high of $56.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total transaction of $30,153.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,750.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,665 shares of company stock worth $90,093. 0.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Water Service Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

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.