H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

HTO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on H2O America in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research set a $70.00 price target on H2O America in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on H2O America from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on H2O America from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.67.

H2O America Price Performance

H2O America stock opened at $61.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. H2O America has a 52-week low of $43.75 and a 52-week high of $67.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.93.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. H2O America had a net margin of 12.91% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The business 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, research analysts expect that H2O America will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. H2O America’s payout ratio is presently 62.19%.

Insider Activity at H2O America

In other H2O America news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners bought 2,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $62.03 per share, with a total value of $172,691.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,615,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,284,887.95. This represents a 0.06% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of H2O America

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTO. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of H2O America by 194.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in H2O America by 1,020.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in H2O America by 44.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new position in H2O America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in H2O America by 139.8% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is 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.