Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Short Interest Down 19.5% in February

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

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZWS traded up $0.51 on Wednesday, reaching $34.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 767,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,000,463. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.64. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 52-week low of $28.25 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.31, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.15.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,002,819 shares in the company, valued at $504,094,718.40. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 13,563,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,913,000 after acquiring an additional 91,758 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 8,801,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,645,000 after purchasing an additional 346,412 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,880,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,642 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,441,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,006,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,444,000 after purchasing an additional 245,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.