SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the four analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.00.

A number of equities analysts have commented on SJW shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SJW Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd.

SJW Group Stock Performance

SJW Group stock opened at $52.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. SJW Group has a 1-year low of $51.92 and a 1-year high of $79.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.84 and its 200 day moving average is $60.92.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $171.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.23 million. SJW Group had a return on equity of 7.10% and a net margin of 12.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that SJW Group will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This is an increase from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SJW Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SJW Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,387,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,510,000 after purchasing an additional 61,015 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in SJW Group by 1,196.1% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 48,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 44,386 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in SJW Group by 22.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 100,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,058,000 after acquiring an additional 18,619 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in SJW Group by 20.4% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 75,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,565,000 after acquiring an additional 12,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in SJW Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SJW Group Company Profile

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.