California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Issues Earnings Results

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05), Zacks reports. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

CWT stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Thursday, reaching $45.04. The company had a trading volume of 539,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 373,381. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.68. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. California Water Service Group has a twelve month low of $41.64 and a twelve month high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on CWT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.25.

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.