H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 360,174 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the previous session’s volume of 487,687 shares.The stock last traded at $58.9650 and had previously closed at $59.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $61.00 price target on H2O America in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on H2O America in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on H2O America from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, H2O America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.00.

H2O America Stock Down 0.8%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.48 and a 200-day moving average of $51.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.42.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $194.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.73 million. H2O America had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 12.81%.H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that H2O America will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of H2O America

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTO. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in H2O America by 194.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of H2O America by 1,020.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new stake in H2O America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in H2O America by 139.8% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.