California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Announces 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 yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

California Water Service Group has raised 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 payout ratio of 43.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CWT traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $44.73. 199,255 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 343,797. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 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 12-month low of $41.64 and a 12-month high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CWT has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued 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 decreased their price target for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.