H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $59.00 and last traded at $58.42, with a volume of 37754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on HTO. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on H2O America in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research lowered H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on H2O America from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $61.00 price target on shares of H2O America in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, H2O America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

H2O America Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $194.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.73 million. H2O America had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 7.08%. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Research analysts expect that H2O America will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTO. US Bancorp DE bought a new stake in shares of H2O America in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $687,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of H2O America during the third quarter worth approximately $514,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America in the third quarter valued at approximately $100,000. 84.29% of the stock is 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.