H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $65.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HTO shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of H2O America from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays upped their price target on H2O America from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research set a $70.00 price target on H2O America in a report on Wednesday, July 29th.

H2O America Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:HTO opened at $63.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $63.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.65. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 0.34. H2O America has a 1-year low of $43.75 and a 1-year high of $67.09.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. H2O America had a net margin of 12.91% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The company had revenue of $210.47 million during the quarter. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that H2O America will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. H2O America’s payout ratio is 62.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 2,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $62.03 per share, for a total transaction of $172,691.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,615,265 shares in the company, valued at $286,284,887.95. This represents a 0.06% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H2O America

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of H2O America during the second quarter valued at $431,857,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in H2O America by 8,756.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,726,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,697,000 after buying an additional 2,695,841 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in H2O America in the 3rd quarter worth about $105,965,000. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in H2O America in the 4th quarter worth about $70,830,000. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new position in H2O America in the 4th quarter worth about $44,420,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H2O America Company 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.