Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO – Free Report) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 40,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,384,000.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE bought a new position in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of H2O America in the third quarter valued at about $31,737,000. Barclays PLC bought a new stake in shares of H2O America in the third quarter valued at about $3,054,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in H2O America during the third quarter worth about $694,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new stake in H2O America during the third quarter worth about $7,279,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have commented on HTO. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on H2O America in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on H2O America from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays upped their target price on H2O America from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of H2O America in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research set a $70.00 price target on shares of H2O America in a research note on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.67.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 2,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $62.03 per share, with a total value of $172,691.52. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,615,265 shares in the company, valued at $286,284,887.95. This represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
H2O America Stock Performance
NASDAQ:HTO opened at $61.33 on Monday. H2O America has a 12-month low of $43.75 and a 12-month high of $67.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.57.
H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $210.47 million for the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 12.91%.H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that H2O America will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
H2O America Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.19%.
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.
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