H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.17 and last traded at $62.0460, with a volume of 36191 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of H2O America in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on H2O America in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Barclays cut their target price on H2O America from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on H2O America in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, H2O America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.17.

H2O America Stock Up 2.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.82 and its 200-day moving average is $55.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $183.29 million for 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, equities research analysts predict that H2O America will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other H2O America news, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip purchased 50,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,640,619.14. The trade was a 1.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.06 per share, with a total value of $2,975,738.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,640,619.14. This represents a 1.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of H2O America

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTO. US Bancorp DE bought a new position in shares of H2O America in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth about $687,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new stake in H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth about $514,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new stake in H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of H2O America in the third quarter worth about $1,143,000. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

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.