Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 7,740 Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

Everence Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) by 68.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,740 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in SJW Group were worth $231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in SJW Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,387,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $143,510,000 after acquiring an additional 61,015 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in SJW Group by 1,196.1% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 48,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 44,386 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in SJW Group by 22.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 100,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,058,000 after acquiring an additional 18,619 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in SJW Group by 20.4% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 75,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,565,000 after acquiring an additional 12,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in SJW Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SJW Group Stock Performance

SJW opened at $54.23 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.72. SJW Group has a 1 year low of $51.37 and a 1 year high of $79.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). SJW Group had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 7.10%. The firm had revenue of $171.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SJW Group will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. SJW Group’s payout ratio is currently 59.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SJW. StockNews.com lowered SJW Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.00.

SJW Group 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.