H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• H2O America has an average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" from nine research firms, with a mix of four holds, four buys, and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is about $63.33.
• The company recently reported Q1 earnings of $0.50 per share, beating estimates by $0.02 on revenue of $183.29 million. It also raised its FY 2026 EPS guidance to a range of 3.08 to 3.18.
• H2O America paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 2.8%. The stock also saw a recent insider purchase by major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners and remains heavily owned by institutional investors.

Shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.3333.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HTO shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on H2O America in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised H2O America from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating on shares of H2O America in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of H2O America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th.

H2O America Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTO opened at $63.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 7.15 and a beta of 0.35. H2O America has a twelve month low of $43.75 and a twelve month high of $66.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $183.29 million during the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 12.87%.H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that H2O America will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at H2O America

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners bought 2,784 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $62.03 per share, for a total transaction of $172,691.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,615,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,284,887.95. This represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of H2O America by 194.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 525 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in H2O America by 1,020.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 594 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in H2O America by 44.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 661 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new stake in H2O America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in H2O America by 76.2% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 911 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. 84.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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