Weiss Ratings Reiterates Buy (B-) Rating for Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated a "buy (B-)" rating for Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS), indicating confidence in the company's stock performance.
• Stifel Nicolaus and Oppenheimer have raised their target prices for ZWS shares to $53.00 and $52.00 respectively, highlighting positive analyst sentiment despite a downgrade from Zacks Research.
• Zurn Elkay Water Solutions recently reported earnings of $0.42 EPS, surpassing estimates and reflecting 7.9% revenue growth year-over-year, with an anticipated EPS of 1.36 for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating reissued by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on ZWS. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.50.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZWS traded up $0.64 during trading on Friday, reaching $46.48. 164,802 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 981,474. The company's 50 day moving average is $46.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 46.05, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a 52 week low of $27.74 and a 52 week high of $48.42.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $444.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 20,000 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor 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 transaction, the director directly owned 180,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,871,400. The trade was a 10.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 108,930 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.61, for a total value of $4,750,437.30. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 94,330 shares in the company, valued at $4,113,731.30. This trade represents a 53.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 168,930 shares of company stock worth $7,452,507. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ZWS. Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor during the second quarter valued at $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 249.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 3,687.2% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,780 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733 shares during the period. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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