H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of H2O America from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup upgraded H2O America to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research raised H2O America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $61.00 price target on H2O America in a research note on Friday, January 9th.

H2O America Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of H2O America stock opened at $55.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.48. H2O America has a 1 year low of $43.75 and a 1 year high of $57.17. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.58.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is 55.87%.

Institutional Trading of H2O America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of H2O America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $133,834,000. Amundi purchased a new position in H2O America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $105,965,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in H2O America during the fourth quarter worth $70,830,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in H2O America by 123.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,368,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,027,000 after purchasing an additional 754,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in H2O America by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,359,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,615,000 after purchasing an additional 59,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.