H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised H2O America to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group set a $61.00 target price on H2O America in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of H2O America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.75.

H2O America Trading Down 0.5%

H2O America stock opened at $52.33 on Thursday. H2O America has a 1 year low of $43.75 and a 1 year high of $57.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.49.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $240.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.27 million. H2O America had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 7.87%. On average, equities analysts predict that H2O America will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H2O America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HTO. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of H2O America in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. US Bancorp DE bought a new position in shares of H2O America in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new position in H2O America in the 3rd quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in H2O America during the 4th quarter valued at about $121,000. 84.29% of the stock is owned by 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.