Financial Survey: Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) vs. Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR)

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) and Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and Select Water Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	0	4	4	0	2.50
Select Water Solutions	0	1	3	1	3.00

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor presently has a consensus price target of $54.86, indicating a potential upside of 14.94%. Select Water Solutions has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.95%. Given Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor is more favorable than Select Water Solutions.

Risk and Volatility

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Select Water Solutions has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and Select Water Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	11.68%	16.54%	9.82%
Select Water Solutions	1.51%	2.30%	1.35%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and Select Water Solutions”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	$1.70 billion	4.72	$198.00 million	$1.15	41.50
Select Water Solutions	$1.41 billion	1.31	$21.22 million	$0.21	72.31

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has higher revenue and earnings than Select Water Solutions. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Select Water Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.3% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.7% of Select Water Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Select Water Solutions shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Select Water Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor pays out 38.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Select Water Solutions pays out 133.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Select Water Solutions has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Summary

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor beats Select Water Solutions on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company also provides flow systems products comprising point drains, hydrants, fixture carrier systems, chemical drainage systems; and interceptors and separators, acid neutralization systems, and remote monitoring systems under the Zurn and Green Turtle brands. In addition, it develops, manufactures, and markets remote tank monitoring devices, alarms, software, and services. Further, the company offers sensor-operated flush valves under the AquaSense, Aquaflush, and AquaVantage brands; heavy-duty commercial faucets under the AquaSpec brand; water conserving fixtures under the EcoVantage and Zurn One brands; stainless steel products under the Just Manufacturing brand name, which include stainless steel sinks and plumbing fixtures, and various types of sinks, as well as drinking water dispensing and filtration products under the Elkay and Halsey Taylor brands. It distributes to institutional, commercial, waterworks, and residential end markets through independent sales representatives, plumbing wholesalers, and industry-specific distributors in the waterworks, foodservice, industrial, janitorial, sanitation, and sitework industries. The company was formerly known as Zurn Water Solutions Corporation and changed its name to Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation in July 2022. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation was incorporated in 1892 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Select Water Solutions

Select Water Solutions, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides water management and chemical solutions to the energy industry in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Water Services, Water Infrastructure, and Chemical Technologies. The Water Services segment provides water-related services, including water sourcing, water transfer, flowback and well testing, water containment, fluids hauling, water monitoring, and water network automation; technology solutions comprising hydrographic mapping, water volume and quality monitoring, remote pit and tank monitoring, leak detection, asset and fuel tracking, and automated-equipment services, as well as various surface rental equipment and workforce accommodation services. The Water Infrastructure segment engages in the recycling, gathering, transferring, and disposal of water through a network of permanent pipeline infrastructure, semi-permanent pipeline infrastructure, water recycling facilities, earthen pits, water sources, and SWDs; provides solids management services; and develops, builds, and operates semi-permanent and permanent infrastructure solutions. The Chemical Technologies segment provides technical solutions, products, and services related to chemical applications in the oil and gas industry. This segment develops, manufactures, and manages logistics; and provides chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, stimulation, cementing, and well completions for pressure pumpers and oil and gas producers, as well as offers production chemical solutions for underperforming wells, corrosion and scale monitoring, chemical inventory management, well failure analysis, and lab services. It primarily serves oil and gas producers. The company was formerly known as Select Energy Services, Inc. and changed its name to Select Water Solutions, Inc. in May 2023. Select Water Solutions, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.