Citigroup Inc. Raises Stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) by 159.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 253,943 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 155,982 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions worth $9,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZWS. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 37.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,695,510 shares of the company's stock worth $49,846,000 after purchasing an additional 465,701 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 4.1% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 8,801,275 shares of the company's stock worth $315,645,000 after buying an additional 346,412 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 13,138,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $386,286,000 after buying an additional 265,857 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 775.5% in the 2nd 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 up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.82. 429,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,104,455. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a twelve month low of $27.55 and a twelve month high of $40.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.33. 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 company has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of 50.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.14.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $410.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $406.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a positive change from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Jeffrey J. Lavalle sold 3,132 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.15, for a total value of $122,617.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 35,422 shares in the company, valued at $1,386,771.30. The trade was a 8.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 52,851 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.55, for a total transaction of $1,720,300.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 80,151 shares in the company, valued at $2,608,915.05. This represents a 39.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 225,688 shares of company stock valued at $8,400,151 over the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZWS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.17.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Profile

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.