H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Stock Price Crosses Below 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO)’s stock price passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.96 and traded as low as $60.06. H2O America shares last traded at $60.64, with a volume of 604,507 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of H2O America in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Huntington Sec began coverage on shares of H2O America in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of H2O America from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of H2O America in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, H2O America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.86.

H2O America Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.89. The company has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $250.23 million for the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.03% and a net margin of 12.51%. On average, equities analysts expect that H2O America will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

H2O America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H2O America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in H2O America in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in H2O America by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in H2O America during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its holdings in H2O America by 35.8% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in H2O America by 76.2% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.29% of the company’s stock.

About H2O America