SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Now Covered by Bank of America

Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $65.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SJW Group presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $62.67.

SJW Group Stock Performance

NYSE SJW opened at $58.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.55. SJW Group has a 1 year low of $51.17 and a 1 year high of $70.43.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. SJW Group had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 7.10%. The business had revenue of $176.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.10 million. As a group, research analysts expect that SJW Group will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SJW Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SJW Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in SJW Group by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 311,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,326,000 after buying an additional 14,853 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in SJW Group by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 724,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,363,000 after buying an additional 27,301 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in SJW Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 175,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,489,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in SJW Group during the fourth quarter worth $13,659,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its holdings in SJW Group by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 99,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,477,000 after purchasing an additional 23,173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

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.