SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on SJW Group in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of SJW Group from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday.

SJW Group Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SJW opened at $54.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. SJW Group has a 12-month low of $51.17 and a 12-month high of $70.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.92.

SJW Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. SJW Group’s payout ratio is 57.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SJW Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SJW. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of SJW Group by 133.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 21,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 12,182 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in SJW Group by 26.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 164,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,897,000 after acquiring an additional 34,607 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in SJW Group by 16.2% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 142,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,084,000 after purchasing an additional 19,925 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in SJW Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,465,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $161,136,000 after purchasing an additional 78,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of SJW Group during the first quarter valued at about $597,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SJW Group Company 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.