Short Interest in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Rises By 30.9%

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 450,200 shares, a growth of 30.9% from the February 13th total of 343,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 279,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of SJW Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SJW. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of SJW Group by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in SJW Group by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in SJW Group by 164.2% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 12,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in SJW Group during the third quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in SJW Group in the third quarter valued at about $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.29% of the company's stock.

SJW Group Trading Down 1.4 %

SJW traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.41. The stock had a trading volume of 545,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 202,303. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $51.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.58. SJW Group has a 52 week low of $44.91 and a 52 week high of $62.18.

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SJW Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. This is a boost from SJW Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. SJW Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SJW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of SJW Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of SJW Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded SJW Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

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.