AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) by 20.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,465 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of SJW Group worth $1,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of SJW Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of SJW Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of SJW Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,465,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $161,136,000 after purchasing an additional 78,289 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of SJW Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $464,000. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in SJW Group in the first quarter worth about $3,202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America started coverage on SJW Group in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on SJW Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

SJW Group Price Performance

Shares of SJW opened at $56.37 on Friday. SJW Group has a 12-month low of $51.17 and a 12-month high of $70.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.62.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $176.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.10 million. SJW Group had a return on equity of 7.10% and a net margin of 12.48%. Analysts anticipate that SJW Group will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SJW Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.15%.

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.