SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Short Interest Up 30.9% in February

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) saw a large growth in short interest in 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. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 279,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

SJW Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SJW opened at $53.46 on Wednesday. SJW Group has a 52-week low of $44.91 and a 52-week high of $62.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SJW Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SJW. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted 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 valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 8,032 shares during 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 stake in SJW Group during the third quarter worth approximately $140,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.