Consolidated Water (NASDAQ:CWCO) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

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

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Consolidated Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Consolidated Water from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Consolidated Water Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CWCO opened at $28.97 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $33.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.96. Consolidated Water has a 52 week low of $25.50 and a 52 week high of $39.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.52 million, a P/E ratio of 29.87 and a beta of 0.54.

Consolidated Water (NASDAQ:CWCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.03). Consolidated Water had a net margin of 13.50% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The firm had revenue of $29.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.90 million. Analysts predict that Consolidated Water will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. Consolidated Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.73%.

Insider Activity at Consolidated Water

In related news, Director Maria Elena Giner acquired 3,310 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.24 per share, for a total transaction of $100,094.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,094.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Water by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 966,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,114,000 after acquiring an additional 13,951 shares during the period. AltraVue Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Water by 2.1% during the third quarter. AltraVue Capital LLC now owns 709,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,042,000 after acquiring an additional 14,400 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Water by 6.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 315,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,147,000 after acquiring an additional 20,264 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Water by 1.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 293,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,724,000 after acquiring an additional 3,210 shares during the period. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Consolidated Water by 23.1% during the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 262,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,243,000 after acquiring an additional 49,163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.16% of the company’s stock.

About Consolidated Water

Consolidated Water Co Ltd. is a developer, operator and manufacturer of water treatment and desalination systems. The company designs, engineers, builds and operates reverse-osmosis desalination plants and water treatment facilities, offering both turnkey project delivery and ongoing operations and maintenance services. Its product portfolio includes modular desalination units, water distribution systems, filtration membranes and associated equipment for potable water production.

Consolidated Water serves municipalities, resorts, commercial enterprises and private customers in the Caribbean and the southeastern United States.