Sentry Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 894 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 145 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $104,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Xylem by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,125,000 after buying an additional 5,286 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Xylem by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,152,000 after buying an additional 6,386 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xylem by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,345,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $181,719,000 after purchasing an additional 5,817 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Xylem by 23.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Xylem by 89.6% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 16,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 7,723 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XYL. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Xylem from $138.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Xylem from $163.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.90.

Xylem Stock Performance

NYSE:XYL opened at $128.68 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $122.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.20. Xylem Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.26 and a twelve month high of $146.08. The company has a market capitalization of $31.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.07.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.06. Xylem had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 9.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.72%.

Xylem 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.