Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 195 Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.11% of SJW Group worth $1,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SJW. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in SJW Group in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in SJW Group by 760.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in SJW Group in the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in SJW Group by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of SJW Group in the 4th quarter valued at $325,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.00.

SJW Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of SJW stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.97. The company had a trading volume of 16,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,177. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.84 and a 200 day moving average of $57.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.61. SJW Group has a 1-year low of $51.17 and a 1-year high of $73.14.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $149.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.60 million. SJW Group had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 12.48%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SJW Group will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

SJW Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. SJW Group’s payout ratio is presently 60.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Craig J. Patla sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $77,868.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,546. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.