SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Shares Up 4.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW - Get Free Report) rose 4.7% during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $57.00 to $60.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. SJW Group traded as high as $56.25 and last traded at $56.04. Approximately 31,360 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 228,333 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.51.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on SJW. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SJW Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America raised shares of SJW Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $59.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Institutional Trading of SJW Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SJW. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in SJW Group by 11.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,952 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of SJW Group by 195.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,919 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 21,123 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in SJW Group during the fourth quarter worth about $574,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in SJW Group by 376.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,140 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,495,000 after acquiring an additional 47,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in SJW Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,255,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SJW Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.56. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $53.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from SJW Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. SJW Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.95%.

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.

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