First Trust Advisors LP Sells 225,511 Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor $ZWS

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 6.8% in the first quarter, selling 225,511 shares and leaving it with 3,078,224 shares valued at about $138.0 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $55.00. Recent calls ranged from Stifel’s lowered $56 target to Barclays’ new $59 overweight rating.
• Zurn Elkay reported solid quarterly results and a dividend, posting EPS of $0.41 on revenue of $433.0 million, both above estimates, and announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share payable September 4.

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,078,224 shares of the company's stock after selling 225,511 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.84% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor worth $138,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Andina Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 12,618 shares of the company's stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,233 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 53.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 843 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 15.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,531 shares of the company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 0.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 134,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,924,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ZWS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Stock Performance

Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor stock opened at $48.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.26. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a fifty-two week low of $37.25 and a fifty-two week high of $53.76. The firm has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.04.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $433.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $418.99 million. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor had a return on equity of 17.40% and a net margin of 12.26%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor's payout ratio is presently 35.48%.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Company Profile

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corp, trading on the NYSE under the ticker ZWS, is a global provider of water delivery and plumbing products. The company was established in October 2022 through a spin-off from Rexnord Corp, creating a standalone business focused on designing, manufacturing and marketing water system components for residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Through its Zurn segment, the company offers solutions for water delivery, drainage and waste evacuation. Product lines include valves, hydrants, backflow prevention devices, piping systems, fittings and commercial waste stations.

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