SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the three brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on SJW shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on SJW Group from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of SJW Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

SJW Group Price Performance

SJW stock opened at $46.08 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. SJW Group has a 1 year low of $44.91 and a 1 year high of $63.23.

SJW Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in SJW Group by 195.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 21,123 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 6,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of SJW Group by 162.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,504,000 after buying an additional 26,505 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 722,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,006,000 after buying an additional 13,614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of SJW Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,593,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

About SJW Group

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.