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

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $44.69 and last traded at $44.83, with a volume of 66332 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HTO. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on H2O America from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of H2O America in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.50.

H2O America Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.54.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.10. H2O America had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business had revenue of $240.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.27 million. Equities research analysts expect that H2O America will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H2O America

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in H2O America during the third quarter valued at $40,000. US Bancorp DE purchased a new stake in H2O America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of H2O America by 240.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of H2O America in the third quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of H2O America during the 1st quarter worth $202,000. 84.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.