undamentalytics Newsletter
Sign in

California Water Service Group key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, California Water Service Group had return on equity of 7.7%, an operating margin of 17.7%, debt equal to 94.8% of equity and a current ratio of 0.85. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMSept 2026
Operating margin14.0%17.2%16.4%15.0%19.6%16.6%16.5%9.8%24.9%17.7%19.4%
Net margin8.3%11.7%9.7%9.5%13.9%13.2%12.4%6.6%21.1%13.3%13.5%
Return on equity7.4%10.7%9.2%8.4%11.4%9.7%7.7%3.8%12.4%7.7%7.6%
Return on assets2.0%2.8%2.3%2.1%3.0%2.9%2.4%1.2%3.9%2.4%2.3%
Asset turnover0.240.240.240.220.210.220.200.180.190.180.17
Current ratio0.570.460.590.510.451.101.000.690.600.850.71
Debt to equity99.3%115.4%120.5%126.1%125.5%93.5%85.1%86.2%84.4%94.8%86.4%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)2.5x3.0x2.8x2.2x3.0x2.8x2.7x1.5x3.7x2.4x2.5x
Dividends ÷ net income68.0%47.4%55.0%60.2%43.1%46.9%56.4%113.7%34.3%57.6%57.4%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

2 of 6 checks passed · September 30, 2026
What it owns · $6.1bn
Short-term assets $408mLonger-term assets $5.7bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $2.5bn
Short-term liabilities $575mShareholders' equity $1.9bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $408m of assets due within a year against $575m of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
  • More cash than debt $45m of cash against $1.5bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 77% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 91% to 77% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $310m of operating cash flow against $1.5bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $197m against $79m of interest.

From California Water Service Group's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

51 /100

Moderate moat

How hard California Water Service Group's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 1 / 20

    Net income has been a median 2.4% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Durability 12 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 18.2%; its worst year was 8.9%.

  • Cash conversion 17 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 9 of 9 years, at a median 14.8% of revenue.

  • Discipline 10 / 20

    The diluted share count rose 19.2% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.6% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: CWT vs HTOAWR vs CWTCWT vs WTRGAWK vs CWT

More: Water Utilities stocks compared, Utilities sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from California Water Service Group's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 30, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to California Water Service Group.