SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,794 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in SJW Group were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in SJW Group during the second quarter worth about $28,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in SJW Group by 263.8% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in SJW Group during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in SJW Group by 1,822.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in SJW Group by 160.7% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SJW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SJW Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.00.

SJW Group Price Performance

SJW Group stock opened at $54.27 on Friday. SJW Group has a 1 year low of $51.37 and a 1 year high of $79.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.75. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last released its 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 12.68% and a return on equity of 7.10%. The company had revenue of $171.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that SJW Group will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. SJW Group’s payout ratio is presently 59.93%.

SJW Group 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.