SJW Group to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 (NYSE:SJW)

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd.

SJW Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 57 consecutive years. SJW Group has a dividend payout ratio of 53.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

SJW Group stock traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.50. 337,252 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 165,503. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50-day moving average is $55.82 and its 200-day moving average is $60.55. SJW Group has a 12-month low of $51.37 and a 12-month high of $78.42.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $171.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SJW Group will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SJW. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.