SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Shares Up 2.1% – Should You Buy?

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) shares shot up 2.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $53.43 and last traded at $53.39. 112,466 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 218,018 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SJW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of SJW Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

SJW Group Trading Up 2.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.58.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

Institutional Trading of SJW Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SJW. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in SJW Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,593,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in SJW Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 722,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,006,000 after buying an additional 13,614 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in SJW Group by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 369,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,499,000 after buying an additional 20,646 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in SJW Group by 11.6% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 3,952 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in SJW Group by 195.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 21,123 shares in the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.