Short Interest in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Drops By 44.8%

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 343,900 shares, a drop of 44.8% from the January 31st total of 623,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 275,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SJW Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SJW. Quarry LP boosted its stake in SJW Group by 123.4% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in SJW Group by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in SJW Group by 81.4% in the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in SJW Group by 842.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in SJW Group by 53.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SJW shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

SJW Group Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE SJW traded up $1.68 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $54.35. 289,109 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 289,855. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.65. SJW Group has a one year low of $44.91 and a one year high of $62.18. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.31.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. This is an increase from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.95%.

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.