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Reasons to Add California Water (CWT) to Your Portfolio Now
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California Water Service Group (CWT - Free Report) , through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services to customers in the United States. The company continues to expand operations in the western United States through organic and inorganic initiatives.
This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock is a promising bet at the moment, as strong capital investment plans to strengthen water and wastewater facilities are anticipated to drive its performance over the long run.
Growth Projections
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 and 2025 earnings per share is pegged at $2.25 and $2.38, that suggests growth of 147.3% and 5.6% from the year-ago levels, respectively.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 and 2025 revenues is pegged at $884.6 million and $935.9 million, that indicates growth of 11.3% and 5.8% from the prior-year levels, respectively.
Dividend
CWT has a very long history of dividend payment. In Jan 25, 2024, the company’s board of directors raised quarterly dividend by 7.7% to 28 cents per share, marking its 316th consecutive quarterly dividend. This resulted in an annualized dividend of $1.12 per share. The current dividend yield of the company is 2.47%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s yield of 1.54%
Regular Investments
After investing nearly $383.7 million in 2023, it is planning to invest $365 million in 2024. Management expects to increase capital expenditures in non-California utilities, owing to recent acquisitions and expansions.
Systematic regular investments are enabling the company to strengthen the existing infrastructure and serve its expanding customers more efficiently. On the back of improving economic conditions, completed acquisitions and other organic efforts, CWT’s customer base is likely to continue witnessing this uptrend in the coming years.
Debt-to-Capital Ratio
The debt-to-capital ratio is a measurement of a company's financial leverage and it indicates how much debt the company is using to run its operation. The current debt to capital of the company is 42.4% compared with its industry average of 45.73%. This indicates that in a still-high interest environment the company is using lower debts compared with its peers to run its operation.
Price Performance
Over the past month, the stock has returned 0.8% compared with the industry 1.6% growth.
PRMW’s long-term earnings growth rate is 12.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 EPS has increased 17.3% in the past 60 days.
YORW’s current dividend yield is pinned at 2.36%, which is better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s yield of 1.54%. It delivered an average earnings surprise of 8.5% in the last four quarters.
CWCO’s long-term earnings growth rate is 8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 EPS has increased 1.6% in the past 60 days.
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Reasons to Add California Water (CWT) to Your Portfolio Now
California Water Service Group (CWT - Free Report) , through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services to customers in the United States. The company continues to expand operations in the western United States through organic and inorganic initiatives.
This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock is a promising bet at the moment, as strong capital investment plans to strengthen water and wastewater facilities are anticipated to drive its performance over the long run.
Growth Projections
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 and 2025 earnings per share is pegged at $2.25 and $2.38, that suggests growth of 147.3% and 5.6% from the year-ago levels, respectively.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 and 2025 revenues is pegged at $884.6 million and $935.9 million, that indicates growth of 11.3% and 5.8% from the prior-year levels, respectively.
Dividend
CWT has a very long history of dividend payment. In Jan 25, 2024, the company’s board of directors raised quarterly dividend by 7.7% to 28 cents per share, marking its 316th consecutive quarterly dividend. This resulted in an annualized dividend of $1.12 per share. The current dividend yield of the company is 2.47%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s yield of 1.54%
Regular Investments
After investing nearly $383.7 million in 2023, it is planning to invest $365 million in 2024. Management expects to increase capital expenditures in non-California utilities, owing to recent acquisitions and expansions.
Systematic regular investments are enabling the company to strengthen the existing infrastructure and serve its expanding customers more efficiently. On the back of improving economic conditions, completed acquisitions and other organic efforts, CWT’s customer base is likely to continue witnessing this uptrend in the coming years.
Debt-to-Capital Ratio
The debt-to-capital ratio is a measurement of a company's financial leverage and it indicates how much debt the company is using to run its operation. The current debt to capital of the company is 42.4% compared with its industry average of 45.73%. This indicates that in a still-high interest environment the company is using lower debts compared with its peers to run its operation.
Price Performance
Over the past month, the stock has returned 0.8% compared with the industry 1.6% growth.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Other Stocks to Consider
A few other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are Primo Water (PRMW - Free Report) , The York Water Company (YORW - Free Report) and Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
PRMW’s long-term earnings growth rate is 12.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 EPS has increased 17.3% in the past 60 days.
YORW’s current dividend yield is pinned at 2.36%, which is better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s yield of 1.54%. It delivered an average earnings surprise of 8.5% in the last four quarters.
CWCO’s long-term earnings growth rate is 8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 EPS has increased 1.6% in the past 60 days.