H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.1667.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on H2O America in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings raised H2O America from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of H2O America in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd.

H2O America Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of HTO opened at $57.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 0.35. H2O America has a one year low of $43.75 and a one year high of $61.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.21.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $183.29 million during the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 12.87%.H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that H2O America will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners bought 50,385 shares of H2O America stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.06 per share, with a total value of $2,975,738.10. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,640,619.14. This represents a 1.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip bought 50,385 shares of H2O America stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at $270,640,619.14. The trade was a 1.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of H2O America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,943,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,375,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,556,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,092,000. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,305,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.