California Water Service Group Q4 Earnings & Revenues Miss Estimates

California Water Service Group CWT recorded fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 19 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents by 47.2%. The metric also missed the year-ago quarter’s 33 cents per share by 42.4%.

CWT’s Total Revenues in Q4

Operating revenues totaled $219.9 million, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $232 million by 5.2%. The top line also dropped 0.9% from $222 million recorded in the prior-year quarter.

California Water Service Group Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

California Water Service Group price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | California Water Service Group Quote

CWT’s Operational Update

Total operating expenses were $194.4 million, up 2.4% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $189.9 million. This year-over-year rise was due to higher administrative and general expenses and a hike in other operations expenses.

Net operating income was $25.6 million, down 20.7% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure of $32.3 million.

Net interest expenses were $18.3 million, up 16.6% from the prior-year quarter’s figure of $15.7 million.

The company completed rate cases in Hawaii and Washington, adding $5.1 million in authorized revenues.

CWT’s Financial Update

As of Dec. 31, 2025, CWT had cash and cash equivalents of $51.8 million compared with $50.1 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Its net long-term debt totaled $1,471.9 million as of Dec. 31, 2025, compared with $1,104.6 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.

The company’s management approved an increase in the dividend rate. The annual dividend rate was increased 10.71%, or 12 cents, to $1.24 per common share, including a one-time special dividend of 4 cents.

The company Invested $517 million in water system infrastructure in 2025, a 9.8% increase compared with water system infrastructure investments in 2024.

CWT’s Zacks Rank

California Water currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Releases

American Water Works Company AWK reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $1.24, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28 by 3.1%.

AWK’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 7.04%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share indicates an increase of 8.33%.

American States Water Company AWR reported fourth-quarter 2025 operating earnings per share of 74 cents, up 32.1% from the year-ago quarter’s level of 56 cents.

AWR’s long-term earnings growth rate is 5.65%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share implies an increase of 3.26%.

Essential Utilities WTRG reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of 47 cents, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents by 3.1%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share indicates an increase of 1.36%.

 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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