SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 29,425 Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its position in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) by 93.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,425 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in SJW Group were worth $126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SJW. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of SJW Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 263.8% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SJW Group during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 1,822.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main bought a new stake in shares of SJW Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $81,000. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on SJW shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of SJW Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.00.

SJW Group Price Performance

Shares of SJW Group stock opened at $52.56 on Thursday. SJW Group has a twelve month low of $51.37 and a twelve month high of $79.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.58.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 7.10% and a net margin of 12.68%. The business had revenue of $171.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Analysts forecast that SJW Group will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This is a boost from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. SJW Group’s payout ratio is presently 59.93%.

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.