SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SJW has been the subject of several other reports. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of SJW Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. 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 downgraded SJW Group from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded SJW Group from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $84.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on SJW Group in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. They set a buy rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SJW Group currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $79.40.

SJW Group Stock Performance

NYSE:SJW opened at $75.70 on Thursday. SJW Group has a 1-year low of $55.74 and a 1-year high of $83.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.59. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.41 and a beta of 0.57.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 6th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 3rd. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.07%.

Institutional Trading of SJW Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SJW. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in SJW Group in the 4th quarter valued at $129,070,000. Amundi increased its holdings in SJW Group by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,016,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,401,000 after purchasing an additional 279,283 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in SJW Group in the 4th quarter valued at $19,796,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in SJW Group by 610.3% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 236,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,236,000 after purchasing an additional 203,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in SJW Group by 136.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 301,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,499,000 after buying an additional 174,397 shares during the last quarter. 72.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SJW Group Company Profile

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SJW Group is a holding company, which through its subsidiaries provides water utility services. It operates through the Water Utility Services and Real Estate Services segments. The Water Utility Services segment offers water utility and utility-related services. The Real Estate Services segment engages in property management and investment activity.