SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Trading 4% Higher - Still a Buy?

Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW - Get Free Report) traded up 4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $52.23 and last traded at $52.22. 46,414 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 287,679 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on SJW Group from $61.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered SJW Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of SJW Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday.

SJW Group Trading Down 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $50.04 and its 200-day moving average is $55.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from SJW Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. SJW Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in SJW Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 722,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,006,000 after acquiring an additional 13,614 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of SJW Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 390,911 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,241,000 after purchasing an additional 20,944 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in SJW Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 327,589 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,124,000 after purchasing an additional 19,136 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in SJW Group by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 212,299 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,337,000 after buying an additional 48,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of SJW Group by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 146,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,231,000 after buying an additional 6,362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company's stock.

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.