California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Stock Price Up 2.3% – What’s Next?

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)’s stock price traded up 2.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $47.52 and last traded at $47.58. 55,347 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 309,597 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CWT shares. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Bank of America began coverage on California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.59.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in California Water Service Group by 785.8% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in California Water Service Group during the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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.