H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) Stock Short Interest Drops 61.0%

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 2,012,314 shares, a decline of 61.0% from the September 15th total of 5,158,832 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 519,102 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 4.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HTO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of H2O America in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of H2O America in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of H2O America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. BTIG Research set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H2O America in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of H2O America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, H2O America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.50.

H2O America Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ HTO traded down $0.20 on Tuesday, hitting $58.45. The company had a trading volume of 203,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 485,116. H2O America has a 12-month low of $43.75 and a 12-month high of $67.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.33.

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $210.47 million for the quarter. H2O America had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 12.91%. H2O America has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.080-3.180 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that H2O America will post 2.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H2O America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. H2O America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of H2O America in the third quarter valued at $313,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in H2O America by 561.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 5,639 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in H2O America during the 2nd quarter worth $730,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in H2O America during the 2nd quarter worth $103,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in H2O America by 61.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 170,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,339,000 after buying an additional 64,487 shares in the last quarter. 84.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About H2O America