H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.86.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of H2O America in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded H2O America from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on H2O America from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th.

H2O America Price Performance

HTO stock opened at $62.95 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. H2O America has a one year low of $43.75 and a one year high of $67.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69 and a beta of 0.35.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $250.23 million during the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.03% and a net margin of 12.51%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that H2O America will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 9th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H2O America

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in H2O America in the 3rd quarter worth $2,003,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of H2O America by 1.3% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 19,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,196,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in H2O America by 24.3% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 1,410 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC bought a new position in H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth about $244,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of H2O America by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 17,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 5,238 shares in the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H2O America Company Profile