The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) Price Target to $34.00

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) had its price target cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $39.00 to $34.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.67.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of ZWS stock opened at $29.64 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.82. The firm has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.16. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 12-month low of $28.25 and a 12-month 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 10.23%. Equities analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.13%.

Insider Transactions at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In related news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total transaction of $299,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,002,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,094,718.40. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total value of $297,593.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 59,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,272.70. The trade was a 12.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ZWS. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 85.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 304,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,952,000 after buying an additional 140,624 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,619,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,161,000 after purchasing an additional 868,748 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,615,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,077,000 after acquiring an additional 329,563 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,256,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,060,000 after acquiring an additional 35,570 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 214,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,989,000 after acquiring an additional 16,520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.33% 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.