Zacks Research Has Positive Forecast for CWT Q3 Earnings

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q3 2025 earnings estimates for shares of California Water Service Group in a research note issued on Tuesday, March 11th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $1.16 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.13. The consensus estimate for California Water Service Group’s current full-year earnings is $3.15 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for California Water Service Group’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.57 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.19 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $0.69 EPS.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Stock Performance

CWT opened at $46.34 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $44.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.19. California Water Service Group has a 1 year low of $41.64 and a 1 year high of $56.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $222.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Water Service Group

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

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. California Water Service Group’s dividend 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.