California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.50.

A number of brokerages have commented on CWT. Bank of America started 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 on the stock. StockNews.com cut California Water Service Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total transaction of $50,727.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,231. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWT. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the first quarter worth $272,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in California Water Service Group by 90.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in California Water Service Group during the second quarter worth about $568,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $257,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,823,000. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $48.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.50. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $43.50 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.65.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. California Water Service Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 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.