Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 52,964 Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) by 291.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,111 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,964 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions were worth $2,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 11.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $195,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 2.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 18,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ZWS. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.67.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock opened at $28.39 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $28.18 and a 1-year high of $41.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 10.23%. As a group, analysts expect that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.13%.

Insider Activity at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In other news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $504,094,718.40. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 12.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions 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.