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

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.1667.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HTO shares. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of H2O America from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of H2O America from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of H2O America in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company.

H2O America Trading Up 1.5%

H2O America stock opened at $60.69 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 0.35. H2O America has a 52 week low of $43.75 and a 52 week high of $61.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.02.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $183.29 million during the quarter. H2O America had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 6.76%. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Research analysts forecast that H2O America will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other H2O America news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 4,582,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $270,640,619.14. This trade represents a 1.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip purchased 50,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at $270,640,619.14. This represents a 1.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of H2O America by 194.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of H2O America by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of H2O America during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

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.