Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 61,722 Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 61,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,302,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 937 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Tsfg LLC bought a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 77.4% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZWS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $36.00 price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas downgraded 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, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.29.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:ZWS traded down $0.19 on Monday, hitting $37.35. The stock had a trading volume of 50,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,128,798. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $32.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.10. The stock has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.02. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $27.74 and a 52-week high of $41.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $388.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $383.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO David J. Pauli sold 2,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.11, for a total value of $100,419.66. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 25,921 shares of the 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 approximately $3,500,769.08. This trade represents a 21.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

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.