Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 (NYSE:ZWS)

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share on Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 20th.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a dividend payout ratio of 24.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Zurn Elkay Water Solutions to earn $1.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ZWS traded up $0.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 864,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,707. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 3.31 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.61 and a 200-day moving average of $31.10. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 12 month low of $25.09 and a 12 month high of $34.58.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $374.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $369.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas Christopoul sold 10,495 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.11, for a total transaction of $336,994.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,366,540.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total value of $2,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,574,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,593,722.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Christopoul sold 10,495 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.11, for a total value of $336,994.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 104,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,366,540.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,442 shares of company stock worth $7,716,844 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ZWS. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

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.