Jennison Associates LLC Acquires New Shares in H2O America $HTO

Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 17,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $844,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at H2O America

In related news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,582,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,640,619.14. This trade represents a 1.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip acquired 50,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $270,640,619.14. This trade 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group set a $61.00 price objective on shares of H2O America in a report on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of H2O America from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.83.

H2O America Stock Performance

HTO opened at $56.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $57.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. H2O America has a 12-month low of $43.75 and a 12-month high of $61.87.

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

H2O America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. H2O America’s payout ratio is 60.27%.

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.