Sapience Investments LLC Cuts Position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Sapience Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS - Free Report) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,608 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,639 shares during the quarter. Sapience Investments LLC's holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions were worth $2,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Man Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 68,559 shares of the company's stock worth $2,557,000 after buying an additional 24,008 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 549,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,515,000 after acquiring an additional 2,101 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,293,655 shares of the company's stock worth $48,253,000 after acquiring an additional 70,349 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,006,596 shares of the company's stock worth $149,444,000 after acquiring an additional 245,258 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,302,000. Institutional investors own 83.33% of the company's stock.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Price Performance

ZWS stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $35.75. The company had a trading volume of 135,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,126,070. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a 1-year low of $27.74 and a 1-year high of $41.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.02.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $388.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $383.87 million. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 14.03%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ZWS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $29.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $36.00 price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.29.

Insider Activity at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In other news, CFO David J. Pauli sold 2,706 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.11, for a total transaction of $100,419.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 60,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,248.92. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 value of $964,001.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 94,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,500,769.08. This represents a 21.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.