Seaport Res Ptn Upgrades California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) to Strong-Buy

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for California Water Service Group’s FY2027 earnings at $2.78 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $3.05 EPS.

CWT has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com raised California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.67.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

California Water Service Group stock opened at $50.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.56. California Water Service Group has a 12-month low of $41.64 and a 12-month high of $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.07.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). California Water Service Group had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 751.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the period. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 785.8% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.