Bank of Nova Scotia Buys New Position in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 26th, 2023

Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in SJW Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. increased its stake in shares of SJW Group by 87.6% during the 4th quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of SJW Group by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of SJW Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of SJW Group by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 5,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of SJW Group in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of SJW Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of SJW Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 12th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SJW Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.00.

SJW Group Stock Down 0.6 %

SJW opened at $74.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $76.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.08. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12 and a beta of 0.57. SJW Group has a 1 year low of $55.74 and a 1 year high of $83.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $137.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.02 million. SJW Group had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 7.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that SJW Group will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 5th. This is a boost from SJW Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. SJW Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SJW Group news, Director Carl Guardino sold 777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total value of $59,075.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,079.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other SJW Group news, Director Carl Guardino sold 777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.03, for a total value of $59,075.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,079.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig J. Patla sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.09, for a total value of $55,165.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $535,521.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SJW Group Company Profile

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SJW Group is a holding company, which through its subsidiaries provides water utility services. It operates through the Water Utility Services and Real Estate Services segments. The Water Utility Services segment offers water utility and utility-related services. The Real Estate Services segment engages in property management and investment activity.