Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in SJW Group were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in SJW Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,593,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 722,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,006,000 after purchasing an additional 13,614 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of SJW Group by 5.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 369,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,499,000 after buying an additional 20,646 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in SJW Group by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 38,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after buying an additional 3,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in SJW Group by 195.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 21,123 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

SJW Group Stock Performance

NYSE:SJW opened at $54.35 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.65. SJW Group has a twelve month low of $44.91 and a twelve month high of $62.18.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. SJW Group’s payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of SJW Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upgraded SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $59.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday.

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.