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

Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.67.

Several brokerages have commented on ZWS. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Price Performance

ZWS opened at $28.39 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 52 week low of $28.18 and a 52 week high of $41.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.91.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 10.23%. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 39.13%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ZWS. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 7.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 67.3% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 75,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,711,000 after acquiring an additional 30,337 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 687.7% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 12,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.33% of the company’s stock.

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.