Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Position in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 35,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 467 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in SJW Group were worth $2,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of SJW Group by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 100,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,058,000 after buying an additional 18,619 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 318,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in SJW Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,090,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 26.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 4,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SJW Group

In related news, insider Craig J. Patla sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $77,868.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $183,546. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SJW. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SJW Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.00.

SJW Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of SJW traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.75. The stock had a trading volume of 14,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,363. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.34. SJW Group has a 1-year low of $51.37 and a 1-year high of $77.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) 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 6.98%. The company had revenue of $171.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that SJW Group will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

SJW Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.15%.

SJW Group 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.