SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

SJW Group has raised its dividend by an average of 5.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 57 years. SJW Group has a dividend payout ratio of 53.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect SJW Group to earn $2.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.7%.

SJW Group Stock Performance

Shares of SJW Group stock traded down $1.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 337,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 165,503. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.58. SJW Group has a 52 week low of $51.37 and a 52 week high of $78.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $171.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.23 million. SJW Group had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 7.03%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that SJW Group will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on SJW shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SJW Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com raised SJW Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised SJW Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.00.

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.