California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for California Water Service Group’s FY2027 earnings at $2.78 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $3.05 EPS.

CWT has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $54.67.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 3.7 %

CWT stock opened at $50.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. 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 has a one year low of $41.64 and a one year high of $56.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.07.

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

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.70%.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWT. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 751.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in California Water Service Group by 785.8% during the fourth 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 period. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group during the 4th quarter valued at $78,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.