H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.75.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HTO. Citigroup raised shares of H2O America to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group set a $61.00 price objective on shares of H2O America in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday.

H2O America Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of H2O America stock opened at $51.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.49. H2O America has a twelve month low of $43.75 and a twelve month high of $57.17.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $240.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.27 million. H2O America had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.59%. Equities research analysts forecast that H2O America will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of H2O America during the third quarter valued at about $213,000. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,508,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $305,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC acquired a new position in H2O America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,374,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,805,000. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

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.