First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 2,304,285 Shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) by 184.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,556,599 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,304,285 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.10% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions worth $132,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the fourth quarter worth approximately $80,457,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $61,412,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,880,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,642 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,619,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,161,000 after purchasing an additional 868,748 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,615,944 shares of the company's stock worth $58,077,000 after purchasing an additional 329,563 shares in the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions news, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total value of $297,593.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,107,272.70. This trade represents a 12.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total value of $299,460,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,002,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,094,718.40. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Up 0.2 %

ZWS traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $33.81. 213,672 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,124,275. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $32.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 1.81. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.74 and a fifty-two week high of $41.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $388.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $383.87 million. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 10.23%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ZWS. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.43.

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.