Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Short Interest Down 12.7% in June

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, a decrease of 12.7% from the May 31st total of 4,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 833,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ZWS. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Insider Transactions at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In other news, major shareholder Ice Mountain Llc sold 36,938 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.44, for a total value of $1,124,392.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,682,793 shares in the company, valued at $720,904,218.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Ice Mountain Llc sold 36,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.44, for a total value of $1,124,392.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,682,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,904,218.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Christopoul sold 10,495 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.11, for a total value of $336,994.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 104,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,366,540.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 641,465 shares of company stock worth $20,532,684. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,738,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,041,000 after buying an additional 131,683 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,797,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,276,000 after purchasing an additional 48,695 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 2,110.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,311,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206,508 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 8.4% in the first quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 2,304,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,139,000 after purchasing an additional 178,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,558,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,657,000 after buying an additional 72,278 shares in the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ZWS traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $28.89. The stock had a trading volume of 312,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,548. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 12-month low of $25.09 and a 12-month high of $34.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.32 and its 200 day moving average is $31.01.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $374.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $369.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.07%.

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.