Brokerages Set SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) PT at $61.50

Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the three ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.50.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of SJW Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

SJW Group Price Performance

NYSE:SJW opened at $60.84 on Friday. SJW Group has a 52 week low of $51.17 and a 52 week high of $70.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

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

SJW Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SJW Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of SJW Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,465,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $161,136,000 after purchasing an additional 78,289 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC increased its position in SJW Group by 17.5% during the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,565,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,877,000 after buying an additional 233,601 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in SJW Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 724,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,363,000 after buying an additional 27,301 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 474,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,015,000 after acquiring an additional 66,238 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of SJW Group by 1.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 339,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,434,000 after acquiring an additional 4,357 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.