California Water Service Group Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.28 (NYSE:CWT)

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a dividend of 0.28 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th.

California Water Service Group has raised its dividend by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 58 years. California Water Service Group has a payout ratio of 47.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect California Water Service Group to earn $2.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.1%.

California Water Service Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CWT stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $53.81. 215,456 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 345,462. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.12. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $43.50 and a 1-year high of $54.85.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.42%. California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $82,815.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,241.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total value of $29,409.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,411.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $82,815.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,764 shares of company stock valued at $141,785. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CWT. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.67.

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.