Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,121,631 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the previous session’s volume of 896,281 shares.The stock last traded at $35.90 and had previously closed at $36.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZWS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.67.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.17.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 10.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s payout ratio is 39.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 304,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,952,000 after acquiring an additional 140,624 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,619,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,161,000 after purchasing an additional 868,748 shares during the period. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 23.1% during the third quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 92,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 25.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,615,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,077,000 after purchasing an additional 329,563 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,256,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,060,000 after purchasing an additional 35,570 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.33% of the company’s stock.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

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.