H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.8333.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HTO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen started coverage on H2O America in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on H2O America in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on H2O America from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th.

Insider Transactions at H2O America

In related news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners acquired 50,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,640,619.14. This trade represents a 1.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H2O America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in H2O America by 194.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in H2O America by 1,020.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in H2O America during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in H2O America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in H2O America by 139.8% during 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 during the period. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H2O America Price Performance

Shares of H2O America stock opened at $60.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.91 and a 200 day moving average of $51.92. H2O America has a 12 month low of $43.75 and a 12 month high of $60.68. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 12.81%.The company had revenue of $194.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.73 million. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that H2O America will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is 60.27%.

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.