First Trust Advisors LP Invests $64.06 Million in H2O America $HTO

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP bought 1,315,455 shares (~$64.06 million), taking about a 3.67% stake in H2O America, and institutional investors now own roughly 84.29% of the company.
• Analysts are mixed: the consensus rating is "Hold" with a $60.75 target, though Barclays raised its target to $63 and several firms (including Zacks and Wall Street Zen) have issued downgrades.
• H2O America posted $0.46 EPS for the quarter, set FY2026 guidance at 3.080–3.180 EPS, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44 (annual $1.76) for a ~3.1% yield with a ~60% payout ratio.

First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,315,455 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $64,063,000. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 3.67% of H2O America as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of HTO. US Bancorp DE bought a new stake in H2O America in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in H2O America during the third quarter valued at approximately $100,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $278,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $514,000. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price target on H2O America from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of H2O America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of H2O America from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $61.00 price target on shares of H2O America in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, H2O America has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.75.

H2O America Trading Down 2.2%

NASDAQ:HTO opened at $57.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. H2O America has a 12-month low of $43.75 and a 12-month high of $58.93.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 12.81%.The company had revenue of $194.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $195.73 million. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that H2O America will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. H2O America's payout ratio is presently 60.27%.

H2O America 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.

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