Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 362 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xylem by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 272,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,638,000 after purchasing an additional 14,174 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Xylem by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xylem in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,673,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Xylem by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 974,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,041,000 after acquiring an additional 14,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Xylem by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xylem Stock Performance

Shares of Xylem stock opened at $122.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.83 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.63. Xylem Inc. has a one year low of $113.26 and a one year high of $146.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.06. Xylem had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 9.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is 43.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup downgraded Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.89.

Xylem Company Profile

Xylem Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and servicing of engineered products and solutions worldwide. It operates through four segments: Water Infrastructure, Applied Water, Measurement & Control Solutions, and Integrated Solutions and Services. The Water Infrastructure segment offers products, including water, storm water, and wastewater pumps; controls and systems; filtration, disinfection, and biological treatment equipment; and mobile dewatering equipment and rental services under the ADI, Flygt, Godwin, Sanitaire, Magneto, Neptune Benson, Ionpure, Leopold, Wedeco, and Xylem Vue brands.