California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the three brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.67.

CWT has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In related news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,231. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWT. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 117.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 31,412 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,559,000 after buying an additional 24,275 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 63,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,446,000 after buying an additional 21,791 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 135.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 119,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after acquiring an additional 68,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in California Water Service Group by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 9,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 3,489 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.7 %

CWT stock opened at $48.63 on Wednesday. California Water Service Group has a one year low of $43.50 and a one year high of $56.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.55 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.37%.

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.