SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Research Coverage Started at Bank of America

Bank of America started coverage on shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $65.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of SJW Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SJW Group has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $62.67.

SJW Group Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE SJW opened at $58.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. SJW Group has a 12 month low of $51.17 and a 12 month high of $70.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.63.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $176.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.10 million. SJW Group had a return on equity of 7.10% and a net margin of 12.48%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SJW Group will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SJW Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SJW Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SJW. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of SJW Group by 445.4% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 45,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after purchasing an additional 37,521 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of SJW Group by 576.5% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of SJW Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $277,000. Creative Planning increased its stake in SJW Group by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in SJW Group by 75.7% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 7,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,066 shares in the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.