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ZYBERNO

Stock Report

Updated Aug 30, 2026

CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE GROUP (CWT)

Utilities • NYSE

$50.48

California Water Service Group is an American water utility company headquartered in San Jose, California. The company is the third-largest publicly traded water utility in the United States, providing water service to approximately 2 million people through its California Water Service, Washington Water Service, New Mexico Water Service, and Hawaii Water Service subsidiaries.

Professional Investment Analysis

ZYBERNO SCORE →

Is it a great business? Is it getting better?

33.0/100

WEAK BUSINESS

CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE GROUP (CWT) scores 33/100 — weak fundamentals with mixed indicators requiring careful analysis before acting.

📊 How is the Zyberno Score calculated? +

The Zyberno Score answers one question: "Is this a quality business worth owning?" It's a 0-100 investment grade that evaluates business fundamentals across four critical dimensions, based on principles from Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch, and Charlie Munger.

The 4 Core Categories (25 points each):

1. PROFITABILITY (25 pts)

Metrics: ROE, ROIC, Net Margin, Operating Margin
Thresholds: ROE >20% excellent • ROIC >20% excellent • Net Margin >20% excellent • Operating Margin >25% excellent

2. FINANCIAL STRENGTH (25 pts)

Metrics: Debt-to-Equity, Current Ratio, Interest Coverage, Altman Z-Score
Thresholds: D/E <0.3 excellent • Current Ratio >2.5 excellent • Interest Coverage >10x excellent • Altman Z >3.0 safe

3. CASH FLOW QUALITY (25 pts)

Metrics: Free Cash Flow, OCF vs Net Income, FCF Margin
Thresholds: Positive & growing FCF excellent • OCF/NI >1.2x excellent (cash earnings exceed accounting)

4. GROWTH & CONSISTENCY (25 pts)

Metrics: Revenue Growth, Net Income Growth, FCF Growth, Piotroski F-Score
Thresholds: Growth via log-linear regression • Piotroski 8-9 excellent, 6-7 good

Score Interpretation:

75-100

GREAT BUSINESS

65-74

GOOD BUSINESS

50-64

AVERAGE BUSINESS

30-49

WEAK BUSINESS

0-29

POOR BUSINESS

→ View full CWT quality analysis & detailed breakdown

VALUATION SIGNAL

MARGIN OF SAFETY

Is this stock cheap or expensive relative to what the business has historically generated for owners?

Margin of Safety unavailable — insufficient data for the owner-earnings DCF.

BRINA GAP ↗

Is the market underestimating or overestimating what this business is capable of going forward?

-18.7%

Market Overestimates

💰 How is Margin of Safety calculated? +

Margin of Safety measures how much discount or premium you're paying relative to a stock's intrinsic value. It's Benjamin Graham's core principle: the larger the margin, the lower your downside risk.

Formula: (Intrinsic Value − Current Price) ÷ Intrinsic Value × 100%

How We Calculate Intrinsic Value (DCF Method):

Step 1: Calculate current Owner Earnings (OCF − Maintenance CapEx)

Step 2: Calculate company-specific growth rate using log-linear regression on 16 quarters of Owner Earnings

Step 3: Project 10 years forward using the calculated growth rate

Step 4: Discount each year's cash flow to present value using 10% discount rate

Step 5: Calculate terminal value using 3% perpetual growth rate

Step 6: Sum all discounted cash flows = Intrinsic Value

What The Percentages Mean:

+50% or more

EXCELLENT — Very undervalued

+25% to +50%

GOOD — Attractive discount

0% to +25%

FAIR — Reasonable value

0% to -25%

CAUTION — Slight premium

-25% or worse

POOR — Overvalued

"Price is what you pay, value is what you get." — Warren Buffett

→ View full CWT valuation analysis · → View full CWT Brina Gap analysis

📈 How is Brina Gap calculated? +

Brina Gap measures the difference between the growth a business can fundamentally sustain and the growth the market is already pricing in.

Formula: Fundamental Growth Rate − Market-Implied Growth Rate

The Two Components:

Fundamental Growth Rate = ROIC × Reinvestment Rate

What the business can sustainably grow at based on how much it reinvests and what return it earns on that capital. Grounded in historical financials.

Market-Implied Growth Rate = Reverse DCF

The growth rate the current Enterprise Value implicitly assumes. Calculated by back-solving a 10-year DCF model (10% WACC, 3% terminal growth) until the present value of projected cash flows equals EV.

What The Gap Means:

Gap > +5% Market Underestimates — potential upside

+2% to +5% Slight Underestimate

-2% to +2% Fairly Priced — market consensus matches fundamentals

-5% to -2% Slight Overestimate

Gap < -5% Market Overestimates — price embeds optimism fundamentals don't support

A positive gap (market underestimates) combined with a positive Margin of Safety is the strongest combined signal — the business is both cheap historically and forward economics are stronger than the price suggests.

Critical Financial Health Indicators

Return on Equity (Profitability):POOR (7.7%)

Debt-to-Equity (Solvency Risk):EXCELLENT (0.02x)

Operating Margin (Operational Efficiency):GOOD (18.5%)

Return on Capital (Capital Efficiency):CRITICAL (4.0%)

📊 Valuation Trilogy

Three interconnected metrics for complete valuation analysis

Click any metric for full methodology and detailed analysis

Zyberno's Verdict

CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE GROUP (CWT) stock report — Zyberno Score 33/100 (WEAK BUSINESS). Full financial analysis on Zyberno.

According to Zyberno's DCF model, CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE GROUP (CWT) shows a Brina Gap of -18.7%, which weakens the case: based on the company's ROIC (4.0%) and reinvestment rate (-105.4%), the business can fundamentally grow at -4.3% — but the current enterprise value implies the market expects 14.4%.

DIVISION I: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A. Market Valuation

Market Price & Capitalization (2)

Current Price:50.48

Market Cap:$3.05B

Valuation Multiples (4)

P/E Ratio:

22.74x

📊 Click to view full CWT P/E analysis →

P/B Ratio:1.68x

P/S Ratio:3.05x

Peg Ratio:-999.00x

Enterprise Metrics (2)

Enterprise Value:$4.68B

Ev Ebitda Ratio:13.95x

Price Action & Momentum (3)

12-1 Momentum:

+14.8% (54th pctile)

📈 Click to view full CWT Momentum analysis →

Momentum Percentile:54 / 100

% of 52-Week High:93.8%

B. Profitability Assessment

Return Metrics (7)

ROE:

7.7%

📊 Click to view full CWT ROE analysis →

ROA:2.3%

Roic:

4.0%

📊 Click to view full CWT ROIC analysis →

Reinvestment Rate:-105.4%

Fundamental Growth Rate (g):-4.3%

Market-Implied Growth Rate:14.4%

Brina Gap:

-18.7%

☷ Click to view full CWT Brina Gap analysis →

Margin Analysis (3)

Operating Margin Ttm:18.5%

Net Margin Ttm:13.3%

Ebitda Margin:33.6%

TTM Performance (2)

Operating Margin Ttm:18.5%

Net Margin Ttm:13.3%

Yield Metrics (2)

Earnings Yield:$4.40

Dividend Yield:2.5%

C. Log-Linear Regression Growth Trends

Earnings Surprise (SUE) (3)

Earnings Surprise (SUE):

+0.41

📊 Click to view full CWT Earnings Surprise analysis →

EPS Surprise vs Expected:31.4%

Latest Earnings Filed:2026-07-30

Revenue Growth (Linear) (1)

Revenue Growth Rate (Linear):8.1%

Earnings Growth (Linear) (1)

Net Income Growth Rate (Linear):-11.7%

Cash Flow Growth (Linear) (1)

Operating Cash Flow Growth Rate (Linear):14.0%

Operating Growth (Linear) (1)

Operating Income Growth Rate (Linear):1.1%

D. Financial Stability

Liquidity Ratios (3)

Current Ratio:0.70x

Quick Ratio:0.70x

Cash Ratio:0.07x

Leverage Analysis (3)

Debt To Equity Ttm:0.02x

Debt-to-Equity Ratio:0.02x

Debt To Ebitda:5.00x

Coverage Ratios (2)

Interest Coverage Ratio:2.22x

Times Interest Earned:2.22

Capital Structure (4)

Working Capital:-173,485,000.00

Cash And Cash Equivalents:43,445,000.00

Long Term Debt:$1.47B

Net Debt:$1.63B

DIVISION II: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ANALYSIS

A. Income Statement Analysis

Revenue Components (2)

Revenue TTM: $1.00B

Linear Growth: 8.1%

📊 Click to view full CWT Revenue analysis & methodology →

Cost Of Revenue Ttm:$0.00

Profitability Breakdown (2)

$0.00

Operating income TTM: $185.28M

Linear Growth: 1.1%

📊 Click to view full CWT Operating Income analysis & methodology →

Bottom Line Performance (3)

Net income TTM: $133.21M

Linear Growth: -11.7%

📊 Click to view full CWT Net Income analysis & methodology →

Income Before Tax:$0.00

Ebitda Ttm:335,597,000.00

Operating Expenses (5)

Operating Expenses:0.00

R And D Expense:0.00

Sga Expense:143,987,000.00

Income Tax Expense:$36.16M

Interest Expense:76,847,000.00

Expense Ratios (3)

R And D To Revenue Percentage:0.0%

Sga To Revenue Percentage:51.8%

Ebitda Margin:33.6%

B. Balance Sheet Analysis

Asset Composition (5)

Total Assets:$5.95B

Current Assets:$407.19M

Ppe Net:0.00

Goodwill:37,063,000.00

Intangible Assets:$17.31M

Liability Structure (4)

Total Liabilities:4,144,872,000.00

Current Liabilities:580,670,000.00

Long Term Debt:$1.47B

Short Term Debt:$205.00M

Equity & Capital (3)

Equity:$1.81B

Retained Earnings:$749.75M

Common Stock:136,000,000.00

Working Capital Items (3)

Accounts Receivable:72,315,000.00

Inventory:0.00

Accounts Payable:201,432,000.00

Special Items (2)

Contract Liabilities:3,180,000.00

Stock Based Compensation:1,700,000.00

C. Cash Flow Analysis

Operating Activities (2)

Operating cash flow TTM: $313.53M

Linear Growth: 14.0%

$0.00

Investment Activities (1)

Investing Cash Flow:-$129.46M

Financing Activities (3)

Financing Cash Flow:$86.44M

Dividends Paid Ttm:75,788,000.00

Stock Repurchase:823,000.00

Capital Transactions (3)

Common Stock Issuance:6,880,000.00

Long Term Debt Issuance:$0.00

Long Term Debt Repayments:$230.00K

Non-Cash Items (1)

Depreciation Amortization Ttm:150,319,000.00

DIVISION III: OPERATIONAL METRICS

A. Per Share Analysis

Earnings Per Share (3)

EPS (Basic TTM):2.23

Eps diluted TTM: $2.22

Linear Growth: -14.2%

📊 Click to view full CWT EPS analysis & methodology →

Earnings Per Share Ttm:$2.21

Revenue & Cash Per Share (2)

Sales Per Share Ttm:16.57

Operating Cash Flow Per Share:$5.01

Book Value & Capital (2)

Book Value Per Share:$29.99

Cash Per Share:0.72

Dividend Policy (1)

Dividend Payout Ratio:57.33x

B. Operational Efficiency

Asset Utilization (2)

Asset Turnover Ttm:0.17x

Working Capital Turnover Ttm:-999.00x

Receivables Management (2)

Receivables Turnover Ttm:13.83x

Days Sales Outstanding Ttm:26.39

Inventory Management (2)

Inventory Turnover Ttm:-999.00x

Days Inventory Outstanding Ttm:-999.00

Payables & Cash Cycle (2)

Days Payable Outstanding:73.51

Cash Conversion Cycle:-1,046.12

C. Quality & Risk Metrics

Financial Quality Scores (2)

Financial Strength Score:20.00

Quality Score:80.00

Market Metrics (2)

Beta:0.00x

Volatility Category:unknown

DIVISION IV: INVESTMENT ANALYSIS

A. Value Investment Framework

Damodaran Growth Analysis (4)

Reinvestment Rate:-105.4%

Fundamental Growth Rate (g):-4.3%

Market-Implied Growth Rate:14.4%

Brina Gap:

-18.7%

☷ Click to view full CWT Brina Gap analysis →

B. Log-Linear Regression Growth Analysis

Growth Rates (Log-Linear Regression) (3)

Revenue Growth Rate (Linear):8.1%

Net Income Growth Rate (Linear):-11.7%

Operating Income Growth Rate (Linear):1.1%

Cash Flow Growth Rates (1)

Operating Cash Flow Growth Rate (Linear):14.0%

Other Growth Rates (1)

Book Value Growth Rate (Linear):10.2%

C. Company Profile & Context

Corporate Information (6)

Symbol:CWT

Company Name:CALIFORNIA WATER SERVICE GROUP

Sector:Utilities

Industry:Water Supply

Exchange:NYSE

Country:United States

Market Classification (3)

Market Cap Category:N/A

Price Category:high

Volume Category:N/A

Share Structure (3)

Shares Outstanding:60.36M

Shares Outstanding Basic:60.36M

Shares Outstanding Diluted:60.43M

Data Processing Info (3)

Processing Version:v3.0

Last Updated:2026-08-30 23:00:20 UTC

Data Timestamp:2026-08-30T23:00:20.319290