Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 78,289 Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,465,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,289 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.69% of SJW Group worth $161,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SJW. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of SJW Group by 2.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 545,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,770,000 after purchasing an additional 15,332 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in SJW Group by 1,196.1% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 48,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 44,386 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in SJW Group by 143.1% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 11,596 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 4.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 429,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,815,000 after acquiring an additional 18,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of SJW Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.00.

Insider Activity at SJW Group

In other SJW Group news, insider Craig J. Patla sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $77,868.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,546. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SJW Group Stock Performance

SJW opened at $53.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.67. SJW Group has a 1 year low of $51.17 and a 1 year high of $73.14. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. SJW Group had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $149.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.60 million. Equities analysts expect that SJW Group will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SJW Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. SJW Group’s payout ratio 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.