IFM Investors Pty Ltd Invests $250,000 in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SJW. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of SJW Group by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,137,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $68,381,000 after purchasing an additional 279,870 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in SJW Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,659,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in SJW Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,465,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $161,136,000 after acquiring an additional 78,289 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in SJW Group by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 474,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,015,000 after acquiring an additional 66,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in SJW Group by 296.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 85,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,117,000 after acquiring an additional 63,661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

SJW Group Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE:SJW traded down $1.31 on Friday, hitting $53.50. The stock had a trading volume of 337,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 165,503. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.58. SJW Group has a 1 year low of $51.37 and a 1 year high of $78.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.54.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $171.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.23 million. SJW Group had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 7.03%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. Analysts predict that SJW Group will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

SJW Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. SJW Group’s payout ratio is currently 60.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SJW Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.00.

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.