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

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.6667.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners bought 2,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $62.03 per share, with a total value of $172,691.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,615,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,284,887.95. This trade represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H2O America

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in H2O America in the second quarter worth about $431,857,000. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in H2O America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $133,834,000. Amundi acquired a new stake in H2O America during the third quarter valued at approximately $105,965,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in H2O America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,830,000. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC bought a new position in H2O America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,420,000. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

H2O America Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTO opened at $63.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.34. H2O America has a 1-year low of $43.75 and a 1-year high of $67.09.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 12.91%.The company had revenue of $210.47 million during the quarter. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that H2O America will post 2.8 earnings per share 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. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.19%.

H2O America Company 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.