Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,880,000 shares, a drop of 19.5% from the January 31st total of 6,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 942,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions news, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the company’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 $2,107,272.70. This represents a 12.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,002,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,094,718.40. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 138.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 937 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Tsfg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 77.4% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.67.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE ZWS traded down $0.86 on Tuesday, hitting $34.09. 666,960 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 992,474. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $28.25 and a fifty-two week high of $41.15. The company has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of 37.24, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.62.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.13%.

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.