Consolidated Water (NASDAQ:CWCO) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Consolidated Water (NASDAQ:CWCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Roth Capital boosted their target price on Consolidated Water from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Consolidated Water from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Consolidated Water Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ CWCO opened at $33.61 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $535.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75 and a beta of 0.53. Consolidated Water has a 12-month low of $22.69 and a 12-month high of $35.48.

Consolidated Water (NASDAQ:CWCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $33.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.75 million. Consolidated Water had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 12.24%. On average, equities analysts predict that Consolidated Water will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Consolidated Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Consolidated Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Raymond Whittaker sold 4,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.35, for a total value of $158,579.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,350. This represents a 82.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Consolidated Water

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Consolidated Water in the second quarter valued at $31,013,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Consolidated Water by 146.8% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 270,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,615,000 after purchasing an additional 160,657 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Consolidated Water during the first quarter worth $3,687,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Water by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 637,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,134,000 after purchasing an additional 101,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Consolidated Water by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 306,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,501,000 after buying an additional 65,744 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.16% of the company’s stock.

Consolidated Water Company Profile

Consolidated Water Co Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, constructs, manages, and operates water production and water treatment plants primarily in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and the United States. The company operates through four segments: Retail, Bulk, Services, and Manufacturing.