Norges Bank Takes Position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,609,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,734,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Xylem by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,644,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,323,325,000 after buying an additional 303,854 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Xylem by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,329,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,394,792,000 after acquiring an additional 189,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Xylem by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,668,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $762,804,000 after acquiring an additional 54,877 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in Xylem by 231.5% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,561,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $644,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883,845 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Xylem by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,325,000 after purchasing an additional 691,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Xylem Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Xylem stock opened at $119.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $125.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.02 billion, a PE ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. Xylem Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.26 and a 52-week high of $146.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Xylem had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 9.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on XYL. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.89.

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.