Prospera Financial Services Inc Makes New Investment in H2O America $HTO

Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new position in H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 87,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,305,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of H2O America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $332,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of H2O America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of H2O America by 139.8% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in shares of H2O America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,609,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of H2O America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $167,000. 84.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H2O America Stock Performance

HTO opened at $58.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.35. H2O America has a 1-year low of $43.75 and a 1-year high of $61.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 2.02.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 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 firm had revenue of $183.29 million for the quarter. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that H2O America will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on HTO shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of H2O America in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of H2O America in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of H2O America in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of H2O America in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other H2O America news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at $270,640,619.14. This trade represents a 1.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip bought 50,385 shares of H2O America stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the purchase, the insider owned 4,582,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,640,619.14. This trade represents a 1.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

H2O America 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.