Seaport Res Ptn Has Bearish Estimate for CWT FY2027 Earnings

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their FY2027 EPS estimates for shares of California Water Service Group in a note issued to investors on Friday, April 11th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Storozynski now forecasts that the utilities provider will earn $2.78 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.83. Seaport Res Ptn has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for California Water Service Group’s current full-year earnings is $3.15 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for California Water Service Group’s FY2028 earnings at $3.05 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CWT. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, California Water Service Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.67.

California Water Service Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $50.81 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.04. California Water Service Group has a 52-week low of $41.64 and a 52-week high of $56.25.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,514,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,642,000 after acquiring an additional 158,295 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in California Water Service Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,689,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,607,000 after purchasing an additional 79,658 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in California Water Service Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,670,000 after buying an additional 22,192 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 979,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,384,000 after buying an additional 113,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of California Water Service Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 928,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,073,000 after buying an additional 49,107 shares during the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

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.