California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.30 Per Share

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

California Water Service Group has increased its dividend by an average of 6.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 23 years. California Water Service Group has a dividend payout ratio of 43.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect California Water Service Group to earn $2.32 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 48.3%.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

CWT stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $44.73. 199,255 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 343,797. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.52. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $56.25.

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). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CWT shares. Bank of America began coverage on California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael B. Luu sold 985 shares of California Water Service Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $50,727.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,231. The trade was a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.