Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) was upgraded by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $34.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $39.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 13.20% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BNP Paribas downgraded Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.71.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Price Performance

Shares of ZWS opened at $30.04 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.14 and its 200 day moving average is $36.40. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 12-month low of $27.74 and a 12-month high of $41.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 14.03%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,002,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,094,718.40. This trade represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total transaction of $297,593.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,107,272.70. This represents a 12.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ZWS. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 13,563,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,913,000 after buying an additional 91,758 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,880,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242,642 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,006,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,444,000 after acquiring an additional 245,258 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 184.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,556,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beck Mack & Oliver LLC boosted its position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 3,485,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,012,000 after purchasing an additional 17,090 shares during the period. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.