Analysts Set SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Target Price at $66.00

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SJW shares. StockNews.com upgraded SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th.

SJW Group Stock Up 0.3 %

SJW opened at $60.05 on Friday. SJW Group has a 12 month low of $51.37 and a 12 month high of $77.13. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.68 and a 200 day moving average of $60.29.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. SJW Group had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $149.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.60 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SJW Group will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

SJW Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.15%.

Insider Activity

In other SJW Group news, insider Craig J. Patla sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $77,868.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,300 shares in the company, valued at $183,546. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SJW Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in SJW Group by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,137,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,381,000 after acquiring an additional 279,870 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of SJW Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,659,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 3.3% in 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 during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake 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 worth $31,015,000 after buying an additional 66,238 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of SJW Group by 296.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 85,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,117,000 after buying an additional 63,661 shares during the period. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.