Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 658 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Xylem were worth $758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Xylem by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,325,000 after buying an additional 691,618 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Xylem in the 3rd quarter worth $68,593,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Xylem during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,169,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Xylem by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,657,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $223,851,000 after purchasing an additional 249,975 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Xylem by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,329,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,394,792,000 after acquiring an additional 189,820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Xylem Price Performance

XYL stock opened at $130.28 on Thursday. Xylem Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.26 and a 1 year high of $146.08. The firm has a market cap of $31.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.60, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $121.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.76.

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

Xylem Increases Dividend

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

Xylem Company Profile

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.