Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in H2O America $HTO

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) by 354.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,918 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in H2O America were worth $4,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in H2O America during the third quarter worth $8,943,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in H2O America during the fourth quarter worth $1,375,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new position in H2O America during the third quarter worth $10,556,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in H2O America during the fourth quarter worth $2,092,000. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in H2O America during the fourth quarter worth $4,305,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at H2O America

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners bought 50,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 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 bought 50,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 $270,640,619.14. This represents a 1.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

H2O America Stock Performance

Shares of H2O America stock opened at $57.75 on Thursday. H2O America has a 52 week low of $43.75 and a 52 week high of $61.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.30. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 12.87%.The business had revenue of $183.29 million for the quarter. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is 60.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on HTO. Wall Street Zen raised H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Robert W. Baird began coverage on H2O America in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of H2O America in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen began coverage on H2O America in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on H2O America from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.17.

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.