California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.28

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.28 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th.

California Water Service Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 58 years. California Water Service Group has a payout ratio of 47.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect California Water Service Group to earn $2.38 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 47.1%.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

CWT traded down $1.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.16. 236,758 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 326,297. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.45 and a 200 day moving average of $51.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $43.50 and a 52 week high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. The business had revenue of $299.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.33, for a total value of $30,153.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,750.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,665 shares of company stock worth $90,093 over the last 90 days. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.