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

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

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 178.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 836 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 76.7% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 732.4% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,440 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ZWS. Mizuho raised their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.50.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ZWS traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $37.48. The company 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 one year low of $27.55 and a one year high of $41.15. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 47.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.14.

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

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. This is a boost from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.59, for a total value of $751,800.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Jeffrey J. Lavalle sold 3,132 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.15, for a total transaction of $122,617.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 35,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,386,771.30. The trade was a 8.12 % 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 valued at $5,813,358 over the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.