Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,860,934 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 371,635 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.43% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor worth $523,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 3.6% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 3.9% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 3.3% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 12,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 4.7% during the first quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 11,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ZWS. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho set a $36.00 target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Stock Down 1.0%

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor stock opened at $45.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.96, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.94. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a 12 month low of $27.74 and a 12 month high of $45.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $444.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.55 million. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 10.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor’s dividend payout ratio is 35.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 9,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total transaction of $444,156.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 328,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,823,117.84. This represents a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 108,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.61, for a total value of $4,750,437.30. Following the sale, the vice president owned 94,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,113,731.30. This trade represents a 53.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,930 shares of company stock valued at $6,501,529. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

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.