Northern Trust Corp Cuts Stock Position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor $ZWS

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has decreased its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corp by 1.3%, now owning about 1.10% of the company's shares valued at $61 million.
• Zurn Elkay recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of 35.64%.
• Analysts have raised their price target for Zurn Elkay, with Stifel Nicolaus setting a new target at $50.00 and giving the stock a "buy" rating.

Northern Trust Corp cut its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,849,891 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,630 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.10% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor worth $61,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 46,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor during the 1st quarter valued at $1,142,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 100.9% during the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 267,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,809,000 after purchasing an additional 134,181 shares during the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 30,575 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 7,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 17,324 shares of the company's stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

In related news, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 108,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.61, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 53.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $874,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 180,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,871,400. This trade represents a 10.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Stock Performance

Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor stock traded down $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $45.38. 719,297 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,012,264. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.46. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a 52-week low of $27.74 and a 52-week high of $46.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.93, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.06. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The firm had revenue of $444.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 35.64%.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

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.