Ethic Inc. Purchases New Shares in H2O America $HTO

Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 21,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at H2O America

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,975,738.10. Following the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip acquired 50,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.06 per share, with a total value of $2,975,738.10. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at $270,640,619.14. The trade was a 1.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

H2O America Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of HTO stock opened at $56.52 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.13 and a 200-day moving average of $52.91. H2O America has a 12-month low of $43.75 and a 12-month high of $61.87.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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 during the quarter. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that H2O America will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on H2O America in a research report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird started coverage on H2O America in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on H2O America in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.17.

H2O America 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.