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

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $60.57 and last traded at $59.9070, with a volume of 87177 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on HTO shares. UBS Group set a $61.00 target price on shares of H2O America in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup raised shares of H2O America to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. TD Cowen began coverage on H2O America in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, H2O America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.83.

H2O America Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $56.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.83.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 12.81%.The company had revenue of $194.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.73 million. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that H2O America will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. H2O America’s payout ratio is presently 60.27%.

Insider Activity at H2O America

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners acquired 50,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in H2O America in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,943,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,556,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of H2O America during the third quarter worth about $9,108,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of H2O America during the fourth quarter worth about $1,375,000. Finally, Thematics Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of H2O America during the third quarter worth about $6,440,000. 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.