Mirova Buys New Position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor $ZWS

Key Points

• Mirova acquired a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions, purchasing 48,509 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million in the first quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds increased their positions in Zurn Elkay, with Ameriprise Financial boosting its stake by 74.1% and Nuveen LLC acquiring a new position worth about $21.3 million.
• Zurn Elkay reported better-than-expected earnings, with $0.42 EPS for the quarter and revenue of $444.5 million, which was a 7.9% year-over-year increase.

Mirova acquired a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 48,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,600,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 74.1% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,715,496 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,577,000 after buying an additional 729,920 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in the 1st quarter valued at $21,273,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,860,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $523,094,000 after purchasing an additional 371,635 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,006,596 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,444,000 after purchasing an additional 245,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 45.2% in the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 533,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,606,000 after purchasing an additional 166,080 shares in the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on ZWS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho set a $36.00 target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in a report on Friday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $874,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 180,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,871,400. This trade represents a 10.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 108,930 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.61, for a total value of $4,750,437.30. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 94,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,113,731.30. The trade was a 53.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,930 shares of company stock valued at $6,501,529. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Stock Performance

Shares of ZWS stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $45.87. 800,995 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 994,176. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.71. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a 12-month low of $27.74 and a 12-month high of $46.60. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $40.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.03.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.06. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 10.78%.The firm had revenue of $444.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.55 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.64%.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor 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.