QualityDipStocks / Utilities · Water Supply
California Water Service Group CWT
Outside our quality screen, so we don’t track its dips. It’s 6% below its 52-week high.
Outside our quality screen. No fair value estimate for now: there isn’t enough data.
- Fair value est.
- n/a
- Market Value
- forming
- Off 52-wk high
- −6%
- Risk vs market
- Lowbeta −0.33
3 bullish · 5 bearish See why
Repriced or dip?
Near its high
The price is 6% below its 52-week high (Jul 28), but the business held up: earnings per share +10.2%, operating margin +2.4 pts, revenue +4.0%.
Some numbers held up (earnings per share +10.2%, operating margin +2.4 pts, revenue +4.0%), others slipped (shares outstanding more shares, each owns less). The price is 6% below its 52-week high.
The price is 6% below its 52-week high, and the business changed too: shares outstanding more shares, each owns less.
Within 10% of its 52-week high, so there is no dip to judge yet.
Data-based read, not advice.
Priced in
How much growth the market assumed at the 52-week high, the low and today (a reverse DCF).
52-wk high: P/E 26.4×; 52-wk low: P/E 21.2×; now: P/E 22.6×.
| High | Low | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $52.44Jul 28 | $42.24Apr 30 | $49.48 |
| Implied growth | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| P/E | 26.4× | 21.2× | 22.6× |
What this means: a lower P/E than at the high means you pay less for each dollar of profit than buyers did then.
How it’s computed
Reverse DCF: the same 10-year free-cash-flow model as our fair value estimate (9.5% discount rate, growth for years 1–5 fading to 3% by year 10, 3% after), solved for the growth that makes it equal the market value at each price. For the high and the low we use only the filings that were public on that day, so nothing from a later report leaks back. Market value = that close × diluted shares. P/E = market value / 12-month net income; Price / FCF = market value / 12-month free cash flow; EV / Sales = (market value + debt − cash) / 12-month revenue. Hidden when the share count moved over 20% (split, merger), free cash flow is negative, or the company reports in another currency.
Valuation
What we estimate it's worth, and how it ranks on value vs every stock we cover.
Fair value estimate
No estimate for CWT: Capital spending isn't tagged in SEC XBRL data. We’d rather show nothing than a made-up number.
Risk vs market
How risk vs market is measured
One year of daily returns (Oct 31 to Nov 2, 252 sessions). Beta = how much CWT moved for each 1% move in the S&P 500 (SPY); 1.0 moves with the market. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Past behavior, not a forecast.
Has moved mostly independently of the market, but its own price swings are 1.9× the S&P 500’s (it moves on its own news).
- Beta vs S&P 500
- -0.33
- Volatility
- 24% vs 13% SPY
- Correlation SPY
- −0.17
- Correlation QQQ
- −0.28
How it ranks
Where CWT stands vs every one of the 1,996 stocks we cover that has the number. Longer bar = better.
Not in the top quarter on any of these 3 measures
- Dividends + buybacks yield2.6% · cash paid out or used to retire shares, vs market capLowest 48%of 1,836
- Revenue growth, last 12 months+4.8% · vs the 12 months beforeLowest 28%of 1,814
- Operating margin19% · of sales kept as operating profitTop 30%of 1,288
From SEC filings and our fair value estimate model. A ranking, not advice.
Valuation details
Fundamentals
The business itself: sales, profits, cash and debt, from SEC filings.
Bull vs bear
Rule-based from the data on this page, strongest first. Not advice.
Top bullish points 3 of 5
ProfitabilityOperating margin widened to 17.7% in FY2025 from 9.8% in FY2023 (SEC filings).
Cash returnsDividend yield of 2.5% ($79M paid over 12 months, 57% of earnings).
GrowthSales grew 7.6% a year over the last three fiscal years, above the 3.9% median for the 92 Utilities companies we cover.
Top bearish points 5 of 5
Balance sheetOperating income covers interest only 2.5× over the last 12 months.
GrowthDiluted EPS fell 34% to $2.15 in FY2025.
Balance sheetDebt rose 30% to $1.6B from FY2023 to FY2025.
Cash returnsShare count up 4.8% in a year: existing holders are being diluted.
QualityDoesn’t pass our quality screen: ROE under 12% and ROIC under 10%; net debt 4.2× EBITDA (limit 3×).
All fundamentals
P/E 22.6 · Sales +5%
Valuation
- P/E
- 22.6×Utilities median 21.2×
- Price / FCF
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
- FCF yield
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
- EV / EBITDA
- n/aD&A or debt not tagged in SEC data
- Price / sales
- 3.05×
- Price / book
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
- Market cap
- $3.1Blisted
- Enterprise value
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
Growth
- Revenue, 12 months
- $1.0B
- Sales growth, 12 months
- +4.8%vs the 12 months before
- Sales growth, 3 yrs
- +7.6%/yrfrom FY2022
- Diluted EPS, 12 months
- $2.26
- EPS growth, last FY
- −33.8%
- Net income, 12 months
- $137M
- Net income growth
- +1%12 months vs before
Profitability
- Gross margin
- n/agross profit isn't reported (common for service and financial companies)
- Operating margin
- 19.4%
- Net margin
- 13.5%
- FCF margin
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
- Return on equity
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
- Return on invested capital
- n/aoperating income, debt, equity or cash not tagged
Balance sheet
- Cash & short-term inv.
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
- Total debt
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
- Net cash
- n/acash or debt not tagged in SEC data
- Debt / equity
- n/adebt or equity not tagged in SEC data
- Interest coverage
- 2.5×operating income / interest
Cash flow & returns
- Free cash flow, 12 months
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
- FCF growth, 12 months
- n/anot reported in its SEC filings
- Dividend yield
- 2.54%$79M paid
- Payout ratio
- 57%
- Buybacks, 12 months
- $1M0.0% of market cap
- Share count, 1 year
- +4.8%diluted shares vs a year ago
- Stock-based comp
- $4M
Trailing 12 months to Sep 30, 2026. From California Water Service Group’s SEC filings. Sparklines show up to six fiscal years. n/a means we don’t hold that number, with the reason. How each is computed.
The business
FCF $-0.3B · Sales +7%
- Free cash flow, 12 months−$0.3B
- Free-cash-flow yield−9.4%
- Free-cash-flow margin−26%
- Gross margin54%
- Operating margin31%
- Return on invested capital8%
- Return on equity8%
- Sales growth (latest quarter vs year-ago quarter)+7%
- Net debt / EBITDA4.2×
Chart & levels
Where the price is vs its key levels and trends.
Key levels
Every level vs today’s $49.48
- 52-wk lowlowest close, 1 year$42.24−14.6%
- PriceMon Nov 2 close$49.48you are here
- 52-wk highhighest close, 1 year$52.44+6.0%
Momentum & 52-week range
RSI 66 · 5 days +3.6%
Signals
Reversal signal setups, the public ledger and the next earnings date.
Setup & signals
No setup armed
No setup armed, so there’s no trigger or stop to track yet. Reversal signal rules only run on companies that pass our quality screen.
CWT is outside our quality screen
One text when a published rule fires on one of the 332 quality companies we track: the ticker, the price, the stop and a link to the numbers. Nothing else.
Voices & buzz
Who is talking about it, and how it compares with peers.
Who’s talking about it
Notable investors, executives, analysts and public figures on California Water Service Group in the last 48 hours. Headlines as published, each linked. Their words, not ours.
No notable mentions in the last 48 hours. Checked Nov 3, 1:01 PM ET.
Compare with peers
Closest in size in Water Supply
Information only, not investment advice. Fair value estimates and talking points are rule-based model output from public data and can be wrong; stop levels are reference points, not orders. How every number is computed.