Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 778 Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,147 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 778 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZWS. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,545,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 0.4% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 168,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,072,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 23.1% in the third quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 92,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the third quarter valued at $4,052,000. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the third quarter valued at about $776,000. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 52,851 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.55, for a total transaction of $1,720,300.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 80,151 shares in the company, valued at $2,608,915.05. The trade was a 39.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Todd A. Adams sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.83, for a total transaction of $4,779,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,242,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,333,392.61. The trade was a 5.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 225,688 shares of company stock valued at $8,400,151. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZWS opened at $39.68 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 50.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.24. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $27.55 and a 1-year high of $40.64.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $410.00 million for 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 for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be 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. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZWS has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.17.

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.