H2O America
- Open
- 65.19
- Day high
- 65.56
- Day low
- 64.32
- Prev close
- 64.39
- Volume
- 649K
- Mkt cap
- $2.7B
- P/E (TTM)
- 22.3
- EPS (TTM)
- $2.93
- P/B
- 1.5
- P/S
- 3.4
- Yield
- 2.63%
- Per share
- $1.72
- ▲Insiders net buying $4.9M over the last 3 months (4 open-market buys, 2 sales)
H2O America (HTO) is a Utilities company listed on NASDAQ. The stock is up 30% over the past year. Over the trailing 3 months, insiders filed 4 open-market buys and 2 sales (SEC Form 4).
H2O America (HTO) financials & analyst ratings
Fundamentals (TTM)
Analyst consensus · 2 analysts
Source: exchange market data + company filings. Figures are trailing-twelve-month or as most recently reported. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
HTO earnings date, history & EPS estimates
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 29, 2026 | $0.48 | $0.50 | +4.2% | $183M | +1.5% |
| Feb 26, 2026 | $0.50 | $0.45 | -9.9% | $-412M | -289.6% |
| Feb 26, 2025 | $0.55 | $0.74 | +34.5% | $225M | — |
HTO insider trading activity (SEC Form 4)
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 8, 2026 | ATLAS Infrastructure Partners (UK) Ltd.10 percent owner | Buy | 2,784 | $62.03 |
| Jul 6, 2026 | Kelly Ann Pofficer: CFO and Treasurer | Tax | 88 | $60.74 |
| Jul 2, 2026 | ATLAS Infrastructure Partners (UK) Ltd.10 percent owner | Buy | 2,132 | $60.76 |
| Jul 2, 2026 | ATLAS Infrastructure Partners (UK) Ltd.10 percent owner | Sell | 1,686 | $60.73 |
| Jun 2, 2026 | ATLAS Infrastructure Partners (UK) Ltd.10 percent owner | Buy | 31,001 | $57.62 |
| Jun 2, 2026 | ATLAS Infrastructure Partners (UK) Ltd.10 percent owner | Sell | 1,435 | $57.52 |
| May 15, 2026 | Guardino Carldirector | Grant | 1,947 | — |
| May 15, 2026 | KRUGER DENISE Ldirector | Grant | 1,947 | — |
| May 15, 2026 | KLEIN REBECCA Adirector | Grant | 1,947 | — |
| May 15, 2026 | More Daniel B.director | Grant | 1,947 | — |
| May 15, 2026 | Rowe Nick Orlandodirector | Grant | 1,947 | — |
| May 15, 2026 | WALLACE CAROL Pdirector | Grant | 1,947 | — |
| May 15, 2026 | HANLEY MARY ANNdirector | Grant | 1,947 | — |
| May 15, 2026 | Heather Huntdirector | Grant | 1,947 | — |
| Apr 22, 2026 | GIP ATLAS Holdings Ltd10 percent owner | Buy | 50,385 | $59.06 |
Source: HTO SEC Form 4 filings, latest Jul 8, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
See the full HTO insider & 13F page →H2O America company profile
Overview
SJW Group (NYSE:SJW) is one of the largest investor-owned, pure-play water and wastewater utilities in the United States, founded through the incorporation of San Jose Water Company in 1866. The company has evolved from a single California water provider into a multi-state utility holding company serving nearly 1.6 million people across four states. SJW Group operates through four primary subsidiaries: San Jose Water Company in California, Connecticut Water Company in Connecticut, Maine Water Company in Maine, and SJWTX, Inc. (operating as The Texas Water Company) in Texas. As a regulated utility, the company provides essential water and wastewater services under state regulatory oversight, making it a critical infrastructure provider in its service territories.
Business
SJW Group operates in the regulated water utility industry, providing essential water and wastewater services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The water utility industry is characterized by natural monopolies where companies are granted exclusive service territories by state regulators in exchange for providing reliable service at regulated rates. This regulatory framework ensures that utilities can recover their investments in infrastructure while maintaining affordable service for customers. The company's core business involves the collection, treatment, storage, and distribution of potable water, as well as the collection and treatment of wastewater. Water utilities like SJW Group operate extensive infrastructure networks including wells, treatment plants, storage tanks, pumping stations, and thousands of miles of distribution pipelines. The water treatment process involves removing contaminants, adding necessary chemicals for safety, and ensuring compliance with federal and state water quality standards set by agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency. SJW Group's operations are divided across four main subsidiaries, each serving distinct geographic markets. San Jose Water Company, the largest subsidiary, serves the greater San Jose metropolitan area in California's Silicon Valley, representing the company's historical core and likely contributing the majority of consolidated revenues given the high-value real estate and dense population it serves. Connecticut Water Company provides service across multiple Connecticut communities, while Maine Water Company serves various Maine municipalities. The newest addition, SJWTX, Inc., operates as The Texas Water Company and serves growing communities in the Texas market. While specific revenue breakdowns by subsidiary are not provided in the available data, California operations likely represent the largest portion given the Silicon Valley service territory's economic significance and population density.
Revenue model
SJW Group generates revenue primarily through regulated water and wastewater service rates approved by state public utility commissions in each of its operating jurisdictions. The company's business model is based on cost-of-service regulation, where utilities are allowed to recover their prudent operating expenses, depreciation, taxes, and earn a reasonable return on their invested capital. Rate cases are periodically filed with regulators to adjust prices based on changing costs and capital investments. The company's paying customers include residential homeowners and renters, commercial businesses, industrial facilities, and municipal customers across its four-state service territory. Revenue is generated through monthly service charges and volumetric rates based on water consumption, with some customers also paying for wastewater treatment services. The essential nature of water service provides relatively stable demand, though consumption can vary seasonally and with weather patterns. Several factors influence SJW Group's profitability margins. Positive margin drivers include approved rate increases that allow recovery of infrastructure investments and rising operating costs, population and economic growth in service territories that increases customer base and consumption, and the company's ability to implement operational efficiencies. Negative margin pressures come from rising costs for energy, chemicals, and labor that may not be immediately recoverable through rates, increased environmental and safety regulations requiring additional compliance investments, drought conditions or conservation mandates that reduce water consumption, and the significant time lag between making capital investments and receiving regulatory approval for rate recovery. The regulated nature of the business provides some protection against cost inflation, but regulatory lag can temporarily compress margins until rate adjustments are approved.
Competitive moat
SJW Group possesses a strong economic moat derived from its position as a regulated natural monopoly in essential service provision. The company's competitive advantages stem from several key factors that create substantial barriers to entry and ensure long-term profitability. The most significant moat element is the natural monopoly characteristics of water utility infrastructure. The enormous capital requirements to build duplicate water treatment plants, distribution networks, and storage facilities make competition economically impractical. State regulators grant exclusive service territories to prevent wasteful duplication of infrastructure, effectively creating legal monopolies. This regulatory framework protects SJW Group from direct competition while ensuring the company can recover its investments through approved rate structures. Essential service provision creates extremely inelastic demand for the company's services. Water is a basic necessity with no substitutes, making customers largely insensitive to price changes within reasonable bounds. This demand stability provides predictable cash flows and reduces business risk compared to discretionary services or products. The company's substantial sunk costs in long-lived infrastructure assets create additional competitive protection. Water treatment facilities, pipelines, and storage systems represent billions of dollars in invested capital with useful lives spanning decades. These assets are highly specific to their locations and cannot be easily redeployed, creating switching costs that discourage potential competitors. However, the moat faces some potential challenges. Regulatory risk represents the primary threat, as rate-setting decisions by state commissions can significantly impact profitability. Political pressure to keep rates low, especially during economic downturns, can constrain the company's ability to earn adequate returns on invested capital. Additionally, technological disruption through advanced water recycling, desalination, or distributed treatment systems could potentially alter the industry structure over very long time horizons, though such changes would likely take decades to materially impact established utilities. Environmental regulations and climate change adaptation requirements also create ongoing compliance costs that must be recovered through the regulatory process.
Risks & safety
SJW Group presents a moderate margin of safety profile typical of regulated utilities, with stable cash generation offset by high capital intensity and leverage. • **Solvency and Liquidity**: The company maintains adequate but tight liquidity with $23.7 million in cash and short-term investments as of Q1 2025. Current ratio of 0.66 indicates current liabilities exceed current assets, which is common for utilities given their stable cash flows, though this requires careful working capital management. • **Debt and Leverage**: Debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33 reflects significant leverage typical for capital-intensive utilities. While elevated, this level is generally manageable given the stable, regulated cash flows and the company's ability to recover capital costs through rates. • **Cash Flow Dynamics**: Operating cash flow of $195.5 million in 2024 demonstrates strong cash generation, but free cash flow was negative $185.1 million due to heavy capital expenditures of $380.6 million. This negative free cash flow pattern is typical during periods of infrastructure investment but requires external financing. • **Valuation Metrics**: Trading at 17.6x trailing earnings and 12.0x EV/EBITDA as of 2024 year-end, representing reasonable but not exceptional value for a regulated utility. Price-to-book ratio of 1.21 suggests shares trade near tangible book value. • **Other Considerations**: Return on equity of 6.9% in 2024 is modest but within acceptable ranges for regulated utilities. The essential nature of services and regulated rate structure provide downside protection, though regulatory lag and capital intensity create ongoing financing needs.
Recent development
Based on the available financial data, SJW Group has been in a significant capital investment cycle over the past several years, reflecting the company's focus on infrastructure modernization and system expansion. The company has consistently maintained negative free cash flow from 2022 through 2024, with capital expenditures substantially exceeding operating cash flow as it invests in critical water infrastructure upgrades. Revenue growth has been steady, increasing from $620.7 million in 2022 to $748.4 million in 2024, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 10%. This growth likely reflects a combination of rate increases approved by regulators, customer base expansion in growing markets like Texas, and potentially some acquisition activity to expand the company's geographic footprint. The company has maintained consistent profitability throughout this investment period, with net income ranging from $73.8 million to $94.0 million annually. However, the substantial capital investment program has required external financing, as evidenced by the increasing debt levels and the company's need to fund the gap between operating cash flow and capital expenditures. The geographic diversification strategy appears to be a key strategic initiative, with operations now spanning four states from the original California base. This diversification helps reduce regulatory risk by spreading operations across multiple jurisdictions and provides access to different growth markets, particularly in Texas where population and economic expansion continue to drive water demand growth.
HTO company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
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