H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on HTO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upgraded 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 upgraded shares of H2O America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, H2O America currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.75.

H2O America Price Performance

Shares of HTO opened at $52.33 on Thursday. H2O America has a fifty-two week low of $43.75 and a fifty-two week high of $57.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $240.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.27 million. H2O America had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 7.87%. 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

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTO. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in H2O America in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. US Bancorp DE acquired a new position in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at $100,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the 4th quarter valued at $121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

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.