Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $59.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor traded as high as $53.69 and last traded at $53.6150, with a volume of 70096 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.48.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $56.00 price target on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Todd A. Adams sold 275,050 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $14,242,089.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,256,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,851,097.52. This trade represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 812 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.61, for a total value of $41,907.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 65,995 shares in the company, valued at $3,406,001.95. The trade was a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 599,259 shares of company stock valued at $31,225,361. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,356,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 8.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,457,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,555,000 after buying an additional 113,425 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 27.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,021,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,059,000 after buying an additional 223,168 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,205,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 1,714.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,369,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,478,000 after buying an additional 3,184,048 shares during the period. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.07.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 12.26%.The firm had revenue of $433.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $418.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.26%.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corp, trading on the NYSE under the ticker ZWS, is a global provider of water delivery and plumbing products. The company was established in October 2022 through a spin-off from Rexnord Corp, creating a standalone business focused on designing, manufacturing and marketing water system components for residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Through its Zurn segment, the company offers solutions for water delivery, drainage and waste evacuation. Product lines include valves, hydrants, backflow prevention devices, piping systems, fittings and commercial waste stations.