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

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th.

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 payout ratio of 47.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CWT traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $51.83. 11,450 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 325,234. California Water Service Group has a 1-year low of $43.50 and a 1-year high of $56.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.55 million. California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 17.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $57.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, California Water Service Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas M. Krummel sold 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $29,365.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,157.51. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,665 shares of company stock worth $90,093 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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.