Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 1,175 Shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of SJW Group worth $815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SJW. Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its position in shares of SJW Group by 81.4% during the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in SJW Group by 53.8% during 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. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in SJW Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $140,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in SJW Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in SJW Group during the third quarter worth about $225,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SJW. Bank of America upgraded SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $59.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of SJW Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday.

SJW Group Price Performance

SJW opened at $54.35 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.31. SJW Group has a 12-month low of $44.91 and a 12-month high of $62.18.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.95%.

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.