Cohen & Steers Inc. Takes Position in H2O America $HTO

Cohen & Steers Inc. purchased a new stake in H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 544,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,677,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HTO. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at $687,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at $243,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at $514,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at $100,000. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at H2O America

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Holdings Ltd Gip purchased 50,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.06 per share, with a total value of $2,975,738.10. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 50,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.06 per share, with a total value of $2,975,738.10. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,582,469 shares in the company, valued at $270,640,619.14. This trade represents a 1.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

H2O America Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of HTO stock opened at $57.06 on Friday. H2O America has a 1-year low of $43.75 and a 1-year high of $61.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $57.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 0.35.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 12.87%.The company had revenue of $183.29 million during the quarter. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that H2O America will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded H2O America from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on H2O America in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen initiated 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, H2O America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.