Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Acquires 166,080 Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) by 45.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 533,849 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 166,080 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.32% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions worth $17,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 77.4% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,984 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ZWS shares. BNP Paribas downgraded Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $36.00 target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in a report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.29.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZWS traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.18. The stock had a trading volume of 629,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,109,413. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $27.74 and a 1-year high of $41.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $34.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.91.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.02. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The firm had revenue of $388.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $383.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's payout ratio is presently 36.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 25,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.19, for a total transaction of $964,001.99. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 94,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,500,769.08. This trade represents a 21.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 2,706 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.11, for a total transaction of $100,419.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,255,248.92. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.