Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $281,000 in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of SJW Group (NYSE:SJW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,722 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SJW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in SJW Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,617,642 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $128,840,000 after buying an additional 72,081 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of SJW Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,256,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $61,872,000 after acquiring an additional 52,029 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SJW Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 745,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,708,000 after acquiring an additional 22,890 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SJW Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 390,911 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,241,000 after acquiring an additional 20,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in SJW Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 327,589 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,124,000 after purchasing an additional 19,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SJW Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on SJW Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded SJW Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $59.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

SJW Group Trading Up 3.5 %

SJW Group stock traded up $1.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.42. The company had a trading volume of 645,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,437. SJW Group has a 12-month low of $44.91 and a 12-month high of $62.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $52.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.56.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from SJW Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. SJW Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

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.