SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

SJW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of SJW Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $66.00.

SJW Group Price Performance

SJW Group stock opened at $53.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $55.82 and its 200 day moving average is $60.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. SJW Group has a 52-week low of $51.37 and a 52-week high of $78.42.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). SJW Group had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 7.03%. The business had revenue of $171.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that SJW Group will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SJW Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. SJW Group’s payout ratio is presently 60.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in SJW Group by 32.6% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,137,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $68,381,000 after acquiring an additional 279,870 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in SJW Group in the fourth quarter worth about $13,659,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in SJW Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,465,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $161,136,000 after acquiring an additional 78,289 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in SJW Group by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 474,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,015,000 after acquiring an additional 66,238 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in SJW Group by 296.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 85,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,117,000 after acquiring an additional 63,661 shares during the period. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SJW Group

SJW Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in the United States. It operates in Water Utility Services and Real Estate Services segments. The company engages in the production, purchase, storage, purification, distribution, wholesale, and retail sale of water and wastewater services; and supplies groundwater from wells, surface water from watershed run-off and diversion, reclaimed water, and imported water purchased from the Santa Clara Valley Water District.