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

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 450,200 shares, an increase of 30.9% from the February 13th total of 343,900 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 279,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SJW Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP increased its holdings in SJW Group by 123.4% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in SJW Group by 81.4% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in SJW Group by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in SJW Group by 842.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in SJW Group by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

SJW Group Stock Performance

Shares of SJW Group stock opened at $53.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.58. SJW Group has a 12 month low of $44.91 and a 12 month high of $62.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.97.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About SJW Group

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.