Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $40.85 and last traded at $40.82, with a volume of 209924 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $40.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ZWS shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.17.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Up 1.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.15, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 8.87%. The firm had revenue of $410.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.15 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This is a boost from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s payout ratio is 45.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions news, VP Jeffrey J. Lavalle sold 3,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.15, for a total transaction of $122,617.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 35,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,771.30. This represents a 8.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sudhanshu Chhabra sold 52,851 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.55, for a total transaction of $1,720,300.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 80,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,608,915.05. This trade represents a 39.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 210,088 shares of company stock worth $7,884,883. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ZWS. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 76.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 178.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 732.4% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.33% of the company’s stock.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Company Profile

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.