Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 13.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,707 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Xylem by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV increased its position in Xylem by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV now owns 234,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,149,000 after buying an additional 26,300 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Xylem in the fourth quarter worth $1,910,000. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Xylem in the fourth quarter worth $2,328,000. Finally, RPG Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Xylem by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 132,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,331,000 after buying an additional 24,297 shares during the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Xylem from $149.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Xylem from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Xylem from $140.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on Xylem from $152.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James raised Xylem to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xylem has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.71.

Xylem Stock Down 1.2%

XYL opened at $127.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $30.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $119.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Xylem Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.47 and a 12 month high of $143.50.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.01%.

Xylem Company Profile

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.