SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Plans $0.40 Quarterly Dividend

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

SJW Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 57 years. SJW Group has a dividend payout ratio of 53.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect SJW Group to earn $2.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.7%.

SJW Group Price Performance

SJW traded down $1.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.50. 337,252 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 165,503. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $55.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.54. SJW Group has a 1 year low of $51.37 and a 1 year high of $78.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). SJW Group had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 7.03%. The company had revenue of $171.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that SJW Group will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SJW. StockNews.com raised shares of SJW Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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 raised shares of SJW Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

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.