H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Raised to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded H2O America from a "sell" to a "hold," joining other recent analyst moves and leaving the stock with a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of about $61.83.
• Q1 earnings beat expectations with EPS of $0.50 versus a $0.48 consensus and revenue of $183.3M, and the company issued FY2026 guidance of 3.080–3.180 EPS (sell‑side analysts expect ~2.7 EPS for the year).
• Insider buying: major shareholder Atlas Holdings purchased 50,385 shares (~$2.98M), boosting its holdings to 4,582,469 shares, while company insiders collectively own about 0.52% of the stock.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on HTO. Zacks Research upgraded shares of H2O America from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Citigroup raised H2O America to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group set a $61.00 price objective on H2O America in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of H2O America in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on H2O America from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, H2O America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.83.

H2O America Trading Up 1.0%

HTO stock opened at $56.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 2.02. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $57.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.49. H2O America has a 52 week low of $43.75 and a 52 week high of $61.87. The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.42.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that H2O America will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other H2O America news, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip bought 50,385 shares of H2O America stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.06 per share, with a total value of $2,975,738.10. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the purchase, the insider owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,640,619.14. The trade was a 1.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of H2O America

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in H2O America by 194.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 525 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of H2O America by 1,020.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 594 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new position in H2O America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in H2O America by 139.8% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 976 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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