Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,619,953 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 868,748 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.54% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions worth $94,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ZWS. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $234,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 23.2% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 62,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,239,000 after buying an additional 11,732 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,256,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,060,000 after buying an additional 35,570 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 304,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,952,000 after acquiring an additional 140,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 18,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In related 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 value of $122,617.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy J. Jahnke sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.59, for a total transaction of $751,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 345,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,969,189.03. This trade represents a 5.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,202 shares of company stock valued at $5,813,358 over the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ZWS shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of ZWS opened at $37.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.44, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.14. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a 52 week low of $27.55 and a 52 week high of $41.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. This is a boost from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 45.57%.

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.