Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 732,804 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,854 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Xylem were worth $85,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Xylem in the fourth quarter worth about $473,000. Mcdonald Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Xylem by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 16,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,964,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Xylem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $534,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Xylem by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Xylem by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 6,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $775,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XYL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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 lowered their price target on shares of Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Xylem from $138.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Xylem from $163.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.90.

Xylem Price Performance

Shares of XYL opened at $130.28 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $121.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.16. Xylem Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.26 and a 1-year high of $146.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.65 billion, a PE ratio of 35.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. This is a boost from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Xylem’s 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.