Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Buys 91,758 Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,563,362 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 91,758 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 7.98% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions worth $505,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 2.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 18,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 85.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 304,731 shares of the company's stock worth $10,952,000 after purchasing an additional 140,624 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the third quarter worth $234,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,619,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,161,000 after purchasing an additional 868,748 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on ZWS shares. BNP Paribas cut shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.43.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ZWS stock traded up $1.07 on Thursday, hitting $33.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,004,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,130,368. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.74 and a fifty-two week high of $41.15. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 36.65, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50 day moving average is $32.73 and its 200-day moving average is $36.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.91.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $388.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $383.87 million. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 14.03%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total transaction of $299,460,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,002,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,094,718.40. This trade represents a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total transaction of $297,593.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 59,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,107,272.70. This represents a 12.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Company 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.