North Star Investment Management Corp. Buys New Position in H2O America $HTO

Key Points

• North Star Investment Management bought a new position of 44,800 HTO shares (~$2.20M) in Q4, joining several other institutional buyers and leaving institutional investors with about 84.29% ownership of the stock.
• Major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares at $59.06 (a 1.11% increase), bringing its stake to 4,582,469 shares; corporate insiders own roughly 0.52%.
• H2O America beat quarterly EPS ($0.50 vs. $0.48), set FY2026 guidance of 3.080–3.180 EPS and declared a $0.44 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.76, ~3.0% yield); analysts' consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $61.83.

North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 44,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,195,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. owned 0.13% of H2O America as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in H2O America during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,943,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new stake in H2O America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,556,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in H2O America in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,375,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in H2O America during the third quarter worth approximately $9,108,000. Finally, Thematics Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth $6,440,000. 84.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.06 per share, with a total value of $2,975,738.10. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at $270,640,619.14. The trade was a 1.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip bought 50,385 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 approximately $270,640,619.14. This trade represents a 1.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group set a $61.00 target price on H2O America in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of H2O America in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of H2O America to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.83.

H2O America Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTO traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $57.93. The stock had a trading volume of 93,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 520,586. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.72 and a 200-day moving average of $52.47. H2O America has a 12-month low of $43.75 and a 12-month high of $61.87.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $183.29 million for the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 12.81%.H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that H2O America will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. 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 3.0%. H2O America's dividend 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.

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