Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corp. (NYSE:ZWS) reached a new 52-week high of $47.92 during trading, with the last transaction recorded at $47.76.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Hold for Zurn Elkay, with two firms giving it a "buy" rating; Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target from $50.00 to $53.00.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, yielding 0.8%, with a payout ratio of 35.64%.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $52.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor traded as high as $47.92 and last traded at $47.76, with a volume of 24800 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $47.28.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.50.

Insider Transactions at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor news, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 108,930 shares of the firm's 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 directly owned 94,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,113,731.30. This trade represents a 53.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 2,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total value of $102,496.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 308,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,688,148.56. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 168,930 shares of company stock valued at $7,452,507 over the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ZWS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,860,934 shares of the company's stock worth $523,094,000 after purchasing an additional 371,635 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 0.3% during 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 1.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,991,234 shares of the company's stock worth $197,591,000 after acquiring an additional 110,932 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 worth $196,806,000 after purchasing an additional 30,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 4,933,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $180,408,000 after purchasing an additional 916,850 shares during the period. 83.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Trading Down 2.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a PE ratio of 46.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.07. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.61.

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 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.64%.

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.