Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) Increases Dividend to $0.40 Per Share

Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36.

Xylem has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.7% annually over the last three years. Xylem has a payout ratio of 27.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Xylem to earn $4.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.9%.

Xylem Stock Performance

NYSE XYL traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $129.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,970,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,342,316. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $31.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.07. Xylem has a fifty-two week low of $113.26 and a fifty-two week high of $146.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.57.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Xylem had a net margin of 9.85% and a return on equity of 9.61%. Xylem’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Xylem will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on XYL shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Xylem from $163.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Xylem from $138.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xylem presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.90.

About Xylem

Xylem Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and servicing of engineered products and solutions worldwide. It operates through four segments: Water Infrastructure, Applied Water, Measurement & Control Solutions, and Integrated Solutions and Services. The Water Infrastructure segment offers products, including water, storm water, and wastewater pumps; controls and systems; filtration, disinfection, and biological treatment equipment; and mobile dewatering equipment and rental services under the ADI, Flygt, Godwin, Sanitaire, Magneto, Neptune Benson, Ionpure, Leopold, Wedeco, and Xylem Vue brands.