Thematics Asset Management Lowers Holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Thematics Asset Management lowered its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) by 13.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 264,127 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,000 shares during the period. Thematics Asset Management’s holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions were worth $9,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,619,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,161,000 after acquiring an additional 868,748 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,695,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,846,000 after purchasing an additional 465,701 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 8,801,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,645,000 after purchasing an additional 346,412 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 2.1% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 13,138,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,286,000 after buying an additional 265,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 775.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 219,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,459,000 after buying an additional 194,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.33% of the company’s stock.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZWS traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.52. The company had a trading volume of 71,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,106,390. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $27.55 and a twelve month high of $40.64. The stock has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.14.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 8.87%. The business had revenue of $410.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is an increase from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 15,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.03, for a total value of $515,268.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 385,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,717,111.51. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Todd A. Adams sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.83, for a total transaction of $4,779,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,242,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,333,392.61. The trade was a 5.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 225,688 shares of company stock valued at $8,400,151. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZWS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.17.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

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.