H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $60.57 and last traded at $59.9070, with a volume of 87177 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HTO shares. Zacks Research raised shares of H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group set a $61.00 price target on shares of H2O America in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of H2O America in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on H2O America from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, H2O America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.83.

H2O America Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.05 and a 200-day moving average of $52.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter. H2O America had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 7.08%. The firm had revenue of $194.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.73 million. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that H2O America will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at H2O America

In related news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $687,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new stake in H2O America during the 3rd quarter valued at $514,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new stake in H2O America during the 3rd quarter valued at $100,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.