Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.67.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of ZWS traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.41. 280,257 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,079,744. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 1 year low of $28.25 and a 1 year high of $41.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.68 and its 200-day moving average is $36.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.16.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 14.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total transaction of $299,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,002,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $504,094,718.40. The trade was a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total value of $297,593.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 59,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,272.70. The trade was a 12.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 13,563,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,913,000 after purchasing an additional 91,758 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,880,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242,642 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 63.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,441,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119,777 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,006,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,444,000 after buying an additional 245,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 184.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,556,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,304,285 shares during the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.