Prudential PLC Decreases Position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Prudential PLC decreased its position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,682 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $12,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of XYL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Xylem by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,644,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,323,325,000 after purchasing an additional 303,854 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Xylem by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,329,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,394,792,000 after buying an additional 189,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Xylem by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,804,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $671,623,000 after acquiring an additional 135,492 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in shares of Xylem by 231.5% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,561,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $644,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Xylem by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $427,325,000 after acquiring an additional 691,618 shares during the period. 87.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.89.

Xylem Stock Performance

Xylem stock opened at $104.46 on Friday. Xylem Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.24 and a fifty-two week high of $146.08. 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 stock has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.35.

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

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.72%.

About Xylem

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.