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

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) was the target 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 trading volume, of 279,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SJW. Bank of America raised shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of SJW Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SJW Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SJW. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in SJW Group by 53.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in SJW Group by 16.8% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in SJW Group by 164.2% during the third 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 during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in SJW Group during the third quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SJW Group in the third quarter worth $140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

SJW Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SJW traded down $0.25 on Monday, hitting $53.84. 58,439 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 200,079. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.58. SJW Group has a 1 year low of $44.91 and a 1 year high of $62.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.04.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. This is an increase from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.95%.

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.