H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on HTO. BTIG Research upgraded shares of H2O America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research lowered H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group set a $61.00 price target on H2O America in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded H2O America to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, H2O America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.25.

H2O America Stock Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:HTO opened at $55.20 on Monday. H2O America has a one year low of $43.75 and a one year high of $57.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.62.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H2O America

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. US Bancorp DE bought a new position in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter valued at $687,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter valued at $243,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in H2O America during the third quarter worth $514,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in H2O America in the third quarter worth $100,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About H2O America

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.