H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $65.6667.

HTO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on H2O America from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of H2O America in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. BTIG Research set a $70.00 target price on H2O America in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd.

H2O America Price Performance

Shares of HTO opened at $63.48 on Monday. H2O America has a twelve month low of $43.75 and a twelve month high of $67.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $210.47 million during the quarter. H2O America had a net margin of 12.91% and a return on equity of 6.65%. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that H2O America will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H2O America

In related news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners acquired 2,784 shares of H2O America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $62.03 per share, for a total transaction of $172,691.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,615,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,284,887.95. This represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H2O America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of H2O America during the second quarter worth about $431,857,000. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of H2O America in the 4th quarter valued at about $133,834,000. Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $105,965,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America in the 4th quarter valued at about $70,830,000. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,420,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.