Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 127,651 Shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 668,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 127,651 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $77,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XYL. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xylem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Xylem by 122.4% in the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Xylem by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Xylem by 3,887.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Xylem by 318.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xylem Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:XYL opened at $129.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.07. Xylem Inc. has a one year low of $113.26 and a one year high of $146.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $123.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.10.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 10.40%. Xylem’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lowered shares of Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Xylem from $138.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xylem has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.90.

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.