California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.28 EPS

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.28, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $244.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.25 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

CWT stock traded up $1.26 on Friday, reaching $55.14. The company had a trading volume of 299,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 325,557. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $43.50 and a 1 year high of $55.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.86 and its 200 day moving average is $48.24. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06 and a beta of 0.47.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

Insider Activity at California Water Service Group

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total value of $29,409.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,411.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other California Water Service Group news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.99, for a total transaction of $29,409.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,411.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 1,654 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $82,815.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,241.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,764 shares of company stock valued at $141,785. 0.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CWT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

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.