California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

CWT has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on California Water Service Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

Shares of CWT opened at $41.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.52. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.82 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $48.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Water Service Group news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,231. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in California Water Service Group by 20.2% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at $506,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in California Water Service Group by 21,048.1% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 5,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in California Water Service Group in the second quarter valued at $231,000. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

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.