SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Position Cut by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its holdings in shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW – Get Rating) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 311 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in SJW Group were worth $569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in SJW Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of SJW Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in SJW Group during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in SJW Group in the second quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new position in SJW Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $81,000. Institutional investors own 72.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Andrew Gere sold 830 shares of SJW Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.72, for a total value of $62,017.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 23,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,765,409.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other SJW Group news, CAO James Patrick Lynch sold 709 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.27, for a total transaction of $47,694.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,698,500.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Andrew Gere sold 830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.72, for a total value of $62,017.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 23,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,765,409.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SJW shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SJW Group from $72.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of SJW Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of SJW Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on SJW Group in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TheStreet raised SJW Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SJW Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

SJW Group Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:SJW opened at $76.24 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. SJW Group has a 1-year low of $55.74 and a 1-year high of $83.88.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.16. SJW Group had a net margin of 9.91% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The company had revenue of $175.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.13 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SJW Group will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 7th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 4th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. SJW Group’s payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

SJW Group Company Profile

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SJW Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility services in the United States. It engages in the production, purchase, storage, purification, distribution, wholesale, and retail sale of water and wastewater services. The company also provides non-tariffed services, including water system operations, maintenance agreements, and antenna site leases; contracted services and sewer operations to water utilities; and a Linebacker protection plan for public drinking water customers in Connecticut and Maine.