H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $63.28 and last traded at $61.77, with a volume of 294063 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on HTO. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of H2O America in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. 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 target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research raised H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on H2O America in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.17.

H2O America Stock Up 0.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.35.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm 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. Analysts expect that H2O America will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other H2O America news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners sold 1,686 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.73, for a total value of $102,390.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 4,610,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $279,986,494.77. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip purchased 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, with a total value of $2,975,738.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,582,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $270,640,619.14. The trade was a 1.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 102,902 shares of company stock valued at $6,081,017. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H2O America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. US Bancorp DE bought a new position in H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of H2O America during the third quarter valued at approximately $687,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of H2O America in the third quarter worth approximately $21,320,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the third quarter worth $31,737,000. Finally, Barclays PLC purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the third quarter worth $3,054,000. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

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.