California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Stock Price Up 3.1% - Time to Buy?

Shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) traded up 3.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $50.22 and last traded at $49.99. 164,924 shares traded hands 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

Several equities analysts have commented on CWT shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on California Water Service Group in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of California Water Service Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.8 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

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California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.37 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase 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 2.55%. California Water Service Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.70%.

Institutional Trading of California Water Service Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 70.5% during the third 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 55.7% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,559,000 after buying an additional 24,275 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in California Water Service Group by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,851 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 24,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 9,894 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.78% of the company's stock.

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.