Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) Position Cut by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 893 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Xylem were worth $1,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in XYL. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Xylem during the 4th quarter valued at $1,170,000. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Xylem during the 4th quarter valued at $651,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Xylem by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $587,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Xylem during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Terra Alpha Investments LLC bought a new position in Xylem during the 4th quarter valued at $3,857,000. 87.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XYL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lowered Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.89.

Xylem Price Performance

XYL opened at $118.27 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $125.24 and a 200-day moving average of $126.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. Xylem Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.26 and a 12-month high of $146.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.06. The company 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.72%.

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.