Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 868,748 Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,619,953 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 868,748 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.54% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions worth $94,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 63.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,441,980 shares of the company's stock worth $195,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119,777 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 37.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,695,510 shares of the company's stock worth $49,846,000 after buying an additional 465,701 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted 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 valued at $315,645,000 after buying an additional 346,412 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,947,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 2.1% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 13,138,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $386,286,000 after purchasing an additional 265,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.50.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.48. The stock had a trading volume of 3,747,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,101,397. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a 12 month low of $27.55 and a 12 month high of $41.15. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $38.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.16. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 47.44, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.14.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business had revenue of $410.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This is an increase from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's dividend payout ratio is 45.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions news, VP Jeffrey J. Lavalle sold 3,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.15, for a total value of $122,617.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 35,422 shares in the company, valued at $1,386,771.30. This represents a 8.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 20,000 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.59, for a total transaction of $751,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 345,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,969,189.03. This represents a 5.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,202 shares of company stock worth $5,813,358 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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.