Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $40.85 and last traded at $40.82, with a volume of 209924 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ZWS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their price objective 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. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.50.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.16 and a 200 day moving average of $33.75. The firm has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.70.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $410.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a positive change from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

Insider Transactions at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In related news, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 10,035 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $351,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 374,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,124,370. The trade was a 2.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 210,088 shares of company stock valued at $7,884,883 in the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 2.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 265,857 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 4.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 346,412 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in 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 valued at $195,585,000 after buying an additional 2,119,777 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,256,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,060,000 after buying an additional 35,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 worth $94,161,000 after buying an additional 868,748 shares during the period. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.