California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Shares Up 3.1% – Still a Buy?

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)’s stock price shot up 3.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $50.22 and last traded at $49.99. 164,924 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 334,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

California Water Service Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.40. 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 (NYSE:CWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 36.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 70.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,450,000 after purchasing an additional 26,299 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 55.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,765,000 after buying an additional 57,811 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,559,000 after buying an additional 24,275 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 78.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 72,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,915,000 after buying an additional 31,831 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

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.