California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.05 EPS

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

California Water Service Group Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of California Water Service Group stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Thursday, hitting $45.04. The stock had a trading volume of 539,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 373,381. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.68. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. California Water Service Group has a 12 month low of $41.64 and a 12 month high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CWT. Bank of America began 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 for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.