California Water Service Group (CWT) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) is scheduled to be announcing its earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, October 31st. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.09 per share for the quarter. Investors that wish to listen to the company's conference call can do so using this link.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.28. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. The business had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. California Water Service Group's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect California Water Service Group to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CWT traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $52.16. The stock had a trading volume of 263,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 325,654. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52. California Water Service Group has a 12-month low of $43.50 and a 12-month high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. California Water Service Group's payout ratio is 44.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at California Water Service Group

In other news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.09, for a total transaction of $30,574.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,280.59. 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 at this link. Insiders sold 1,665 shares of company stock valued at $90,093 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.73% 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.