Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.67.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of ZWS stock opened at $33.87 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.64. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 52-week low of $28.25 and a 52-week high of $41.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 36.82, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.15. 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 14.03%. On average, analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s payout ratio is 39.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total value of $297,593.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,107,272.70. This represents a 12.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total transaction of $299,460,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZWS. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 95.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after buying an additional 14,452 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 3,475.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 35,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 34,306 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,943,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,172,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 0.3% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 209,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,519,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.