Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,880,000 shares, a drop of 19.5% from the January 31st total of 6,060,000 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 942,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total value of $299,460,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,002,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,094,718.40. This trade represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total value of $297,593.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,107,272.70. The trade was a 12.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 304,731 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,952,000 after purchasing an additional 140,624 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% in 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. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. increased its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 92,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 17,350 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,615,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,077,000 after acquiring an additional 329,563 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,256,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,060,000 after acquiring an additional 35,570 shares during the period. 83.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.67.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE ZWS traded up $0.29 during trading on Thursday, reaching $34.56. 1,008,753 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,000,655. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 1 year low of $28.25 and a 1 year high of $41.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.91. The stock has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.61.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 10.23%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's payout ratio is currently 39.13%.

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.