Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) by 78.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,871 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,952 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZWS. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 184.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,556,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304,285 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $80,457,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at $61,412,000. 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 purchasing an additional 1,242,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,619,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,161,000 after purchasing an additional 868,748 shares during the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 owns 59,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,272.70. This trade represents a 12.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total transaction of $299,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,002,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,094,718.40. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ZWS shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.71.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Up 1.5 %

ZWS opened at $30.04 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.91. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a 1 year low of $27.74 and a 1 year high of $41.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.36.

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

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 39.13%.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions 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.