H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $63.35 and last traded at $63.1980, with a volume of 39540 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $62.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HTO shares. Zacks Research raised shares of H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of H2O America in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised H2O America from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.33.

H2O America Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 0.35.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. H2O America had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The company had revenue of $183.29 million for the quarter. 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 year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners acquired 2,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was bought 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 approximately $286,284,887.95. The trade was a 0.06% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 4th quarter valued at about $133,834,000. Amundi bought a new position in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $105,965,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of H2O America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,830,000. Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,420,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of H2O America by 123.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,368,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,027,000 after buying an additional 754,715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

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.