Financial Survey: H2O America (HTO) vs. Its Competitors

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) is one of 38 publicly-traded companies in the “Water Utilities” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare H2O America to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and earnings.

Dividends

H2O America pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. H2O America pays out 69.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Water Utilities” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.9% and pay out 83.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. H2O America has increased its dividend for 57 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares H2O America and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H2O America	12.51%	6.03%	2.03%
H2O America Competitors	0.05%	-1.03%	1.70%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares H2O America and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
H2O America	$800.59 million	$102.58 million	23.98
H2O America Competitors	$4.33 billion	$270.20 million	14.19

H2O America’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than H2O America. H2O America is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

84.3% of H2O America shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.7% of shares of all “Water Utilities” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of H2O America shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.7% of shares of all “Water Utilities” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

H2O America has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, H2O America’s peers have a beta of 0.77, suggesting that their average stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for H2O America and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H2O America	0	3	6	2	2.91
H2O America Competitors	409	1242	1032	34	2.25

H2O America currently has a consensus target price of $64.86, suggesting a potential upside of 6.05%. As a group, “Water Utilities” companies have a potential upside of 90.96%. Given H2O America’s peers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe H2O America has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Summary

H2O America beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

H2O America Company Profile

H2O America is a water utility holding company that provides regulated water and wastewater services through its operating subsidiaries. Its services include water supply, treatment and distribution, as well as wastewater collection and treatment in some service areas. The company serves customers in California, Connecticut, Maine and Texas. Its utility operations include San Jose Water Company, Connecticut Water Company, Maine Water Company and Texas Water Company. H2O America was formerly known as SJW Group and adopted its current name in 2025.