H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Down 61.0% in September

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 2,012,314 shares, a drop of 61.0% from the September 15th total of 5,158,832 shares. Currently, 4.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 519,102 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

H2O America Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:HTO opened at $58.62 on Thursday. H2O America has a 12 month low of $43.75 and a 12 month high of $67.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.35.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $210.47 million for the quarter. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Analysts expect that H2O America will post 2.80 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. BTIG Research set a $70.00 target price on H2O America in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays dropped their target price on H2O America from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.50.

Institutional Trading of H2O America

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTO. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of H2O America by 6,365.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $313,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in H2O America by 561.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 5,639 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in H2O America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $730,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in H2O America during the second quarter valued at $103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

H2O America Company Profile