Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in SJW Group (NYSE:SJW - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,617,642 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 72,081 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.00% of SJW Group worth $128,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SJW. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of SJW Group by 376.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,140 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,495,000 after acquiring an additional 47,506 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SJW Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,942,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in SJW Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,593,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in SJW Group by 162.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,810 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,504,000 after purchasing an additional 26,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in SJW Group by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,386 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,369,000 after buying an additional 25,212 shares during the period. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

SJW Group Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE SJW traded up $1.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.42. 645,894 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 226,863. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.07. SJW Group has a 52 week low of $44.91 and a 52 week 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.

SJW Group Increases Dividend

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