Jennison Associates LLC Raises Stock Position in H2O America $HTO

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) by 486.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,911 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.24% of H2O America worth $5,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of H2O America during the 4th quarter valued at $133,834,000. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of H2O America in the third quarter worth $105,965,000. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in H2O America during the fourth quarter valued at $70,830,000. Morgan Stanley increased 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 valued at $67,027,000 after acquiring an additional 754,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 59,799 shares during the period. 84.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other H2O America news, major shareholder Atlas Infrastructure Partners purchased 2,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $62.03 per share, with a total value of $172,691.52. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 4,615,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,284,887.95. This trade represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

H2O America Stock Down 0.8%

HTO opened at $64.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.02. H2O America has a fifty-two week low of $43.75 and a fifty-two week high of $66.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.02 and its 200 day moving average is $56.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.21 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 earnings per share (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 business 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, sell-side analysts forecast that H2O America will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of H2O America in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of H2O America from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of H2O America from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of H2O America in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, H2O America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.33.

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.