Beck Mack & Oliver LLC Increases Holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor $ZWS

Key Points

• Beck Mack & Oliver LLC increased its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corp by 2.5%, owning approximately 3.57 million shares valued at $117.83 million, making it the fund's 17th largest holding.
• A vice president and a director of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions recently sold significant amounts of stock, with VP Sudhanshu Chhabra selling 108,930 shares for over $4.7 million, representing a 53.59% decrease in their ownership.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions, with an upgraded price target from Stifel Nicolaus to $50.00, indicating a preference for a "buy" rating amidst a general consensus of "hold" with a target price of $38.00.

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC lifted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,572,869 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 87,303 shares during the quarter. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor accounts for approximately 2.3% of Beck Mack & Oliver LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC owned 2.12% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor worth $117,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor during the first quarter worth about $265,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor during the first quarter valued at approximately $448,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 2.2% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 98,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 3,250.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 31,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $952,000 after buying an additional 30,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares during the period. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ZWS traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.67. The company had a trading volume of 684,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 827,179. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a 1 year low of $27.74 and a 1 year high of $46.60. The company has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $41.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.59.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $444.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.55 million. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 10.78%.The business's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor will post 1.36 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor's dividend payout ratio is 35.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor news, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 9,857 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total transaction of $444,156.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 328,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,823,117.84. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 108,930 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 94,330 shares in the company, valued at $4,113,731.30. This represents a 53.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,930 shares of company stock worth $6,501,529. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.