Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from six brokerages, with a 12-month price target of $40.50.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.42, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.36, and its revenue increased by 7.9% year-over-year.
• Zurn Elkay recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, yielding approximately 0.8% annually, with a payout ratio of 35.64%.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

Several research analysts have recently commented on ZWS shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZWS opened at $46.90 on Wednesday. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a twelve month low of $27.74 and a twelve month high of $48.42. The company's 50 day moving average is $44.02 and its 200 day moving average is $37.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a PE ratio of 46.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The business's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor's dividend payout ratio is 35.64%.

Insider Transactions at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

In other news, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 2,156 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total transaction of $102,496.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 308,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,688,148.56. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 108,930 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 94,330 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders have sold 168,930 shares of company stock worth $7,452,507 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,860,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $523,094,000 after purchasing an additional 371,635 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 0.3% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 13,605,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $448,714,000 after acquiring an additional 42,277 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 1.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,991,234 shares of the company's stock valued at $197,591,000 after acquiring an additional 110,932 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 0.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,381,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,806,000 after acquiring an additional 30,483 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 22.8% in the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,933,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $180,408,000 after acquiring an additional 916,850 shares during the period. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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