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

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of 0.28 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

California Water Service Group has raised its dividend by an average of 7.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 58 years. California Water Service Group has a dividend payout ratio of 47.1% meaning 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

Shares of NYSE:CWT traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.73. The stock had a trading volume of 15,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 362,098. California Water Service Group has a 52 week low of $43.50 and a 52 week high of $58.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.99 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $1.00. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 3.75% and a net margin of 6.53%. The business had revenue of $270.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.40) EPS. California Water Service Group’s quarterly revenue was up 106.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CWT shares. StockNews.com upgraded California Water Service Group to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on California Water Service Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TheStreet cut California Water Service Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.25.

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.