Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) Lowered to Neutral Rating by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas cut shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $29.00 target price on the stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on ZWS. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.43.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ZWS opened at $29.40 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 12 month low of $27.74 and a 12 month high of $41.15. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s payout ratio is 39.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total transaction of $299,460,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,002,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,094,718.40. The trade was a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,272.70. The trade was a 12.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 3.3% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 8,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 58,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,288,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.33% of the company’s stock.

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.