California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Price Target Increased to $55.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) had its price objective lifted by Robert W. Baird from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded California Water Service Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet downgraded California Water Service Group from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group to a sell rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $54.25.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CWT opened at $47.93 on Friday. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $43.50 and a twelve month high of $58.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $1.00. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.42%. The firm had revenue of $270.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.40) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 44.80%.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,099,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,877,000 after purchasing an additional 270,786 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,175,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,936,000 after purchasing an additional 479,457 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,570,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,313,000 after purchasing an additional 47,266 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,249,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,993 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,096,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,867,000 after purchasing an additional 240,944 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.