H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of H2O America to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of H2O America in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $61.00 price target on shares of H2O America in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, H2O America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

H2O America Price Performance

H2O America stock opened at $57.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $54.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.39. H2O America has a one year low of $43.75 and a one year high of $59.00.

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

H2O America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H2O America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in H2O America in the 4th quarter worth about $133,834,000. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America during the third quarter valued at about $105,965,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America during the fourth quarter valued at about $70,830,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of H2O America by 123.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,368,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,027,000 after purchasing an additional 754,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of H2O America by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,359,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,615,000 after purchasing an additional 59,799 shares during the last quarter. 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.