SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Stock Price Down 3.5%

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)’s stock price traded down 3.5% on Friday . The company traded as low as $52.91 and last traded at $52.91. 15,105 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 175,411 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com raised SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.00.

SJW Group Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.58.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm 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 7.03% and a net margin of 12.48%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. SJW Group’s payout ratio is presently 60.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SJW Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 279,870 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in SJW Group in the fourth quarter worth about $13,659,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 78,289 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 66,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 63,661 shares during the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.