Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $974,000 Position in H2O America $HTO

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System disclosed a new position in H2O America, buying 16,600 shares valued at about $974,000 in the first quarter.
• Institutional interest in HTO remains high, with several funds adding to positions and institutional ownership at 84.29% of the company’s stock.
• H2O America posted Q1 earnings of $0.50 per share, beating consensus estimates, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $62.17.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $974,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HTO. Everstar Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in H2O America by 139.6% in the 1st quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC now owns 20,365 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 11,865 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of H2O America by 9.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,689 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its holdings in shares of H2O America by 8.8% during the first quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 51,187 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,014,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Rubicon Advisors GP bought a new stake in shares of H2O America during the fourth quarter worth about $695,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of H2O America by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 646,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,675,000 after buying an additional 76,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HTO shares. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of H2O America in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of H2O America in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of H2O America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on H2O America from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.17.

H2O America Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTO opened at $62.42 on Monday. H2O America has a 52 week low of $43.75 and a 52 week high of $62.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm's fifty day moving average is $57.93 and its 200-day moving average is $55.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 0.35.

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

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. H2O America's payout ratio is currently 60.27%.

Insider Transactions at H2O America

In other H2O America news, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip bought 50,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at $270,640,619.14. This trade represents a 1.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners bought 50,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.06 per share, with a total value of $2,975,738.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 4,582,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $270,640,619.14. This represents a 1.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 102,902 shares of company stock worth $6,081,017 over the last three months. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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