Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.17.

ZWS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 15,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.03, for a total transaction of $515,268.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 385,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,717,111.51. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Todd A. Adams sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.83, for a total value of $4,779,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,242,867 shares in the company, valued at $89,333,392.61. This trade represents a 5.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 225,688 shares of company stock worth $8,400,151. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,441,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119,777 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,619,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,161,000 after acquiring an additional 868,748 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,695,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,846,000 after acquiring an additional 465,701 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 8,801,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,645,000 after acquiring an additional 346,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,947,000. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Down 0.4 %

ZWS stock opened at $39.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.70. The company has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.38, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.14. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $27.55 and a fifty-two week high of $40.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.43 and a 200-day moving average of $32.94.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $410.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.15 million. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 8.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. This is a boost from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Company Profile

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation engages in design, procurement, manufacture, and marketing of water management solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers water safety and control products, such as backflow preventers, fire system valves, pressure reducing valves, thermostatic mixing valves, PEX pipings, fittings, and installation tools under the Zurn and Wilkins brand names.