Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) Short Interest Update

Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,990,000 shares, a drop of 12.3% from the February 28th total of 3,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Xylem Stock Performance

XYL stock traded down $6.43 during trading on Thursday, reaching $112.62. The company had a trading volume of 938,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,321,312. The company has a market cap of $27.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. Xylem has a twelve month low of $112.00 and a twelve month high of $146.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.65.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for 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 was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Xylem will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is 43.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on XYL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup downgraded Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four investment 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Xylem during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xylem in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Xylem during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in Xylem by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Xylem by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

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.