Legal & General Group Plc Acquires Shares of 571,546 H2O America $HTO

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 571,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,792,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 1.37% of H2O America at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in H2O America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $431,857,000. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in H2O America in the 4th quarter worth about $133,834,000. Amundi bought a new stake in H2O America in the third quarter worth about $105,965,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in H2O America in the fourth quarter worth about $70,830,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position 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 valued at $67,027,000 after buying an additional 754,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

H2O America Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ HTO opened at $63.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.97. H2O America has a 52-week low of $43.75 and a 52-week high of $67.09.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $210.47 million for the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 12.91%.H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that H2O America will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 2,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $62.03 per share, for a total transaction of $172,691.52. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 4,615,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,284,887.95. This represents a 0.06% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of H2O America in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on H2O America in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on H2O America from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on H2O America from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, H2O America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.67.

H2O America Company 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.