Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, a decline of 12.7% from the May 31st total of 4,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 833,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ZWS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

Insider Transactions at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In other news, major shareholder Ice Mountain Llc sold 36,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.44, for a total value of $1,124,392.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,682,793 shares in the company, valued at $720,904,218.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas Christopoul sold 10,495 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 104,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,366,540.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ice Mountain Llc sold 36,938 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.44, for a total value of $1,124,392.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,682,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,904,218.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 641,465 shares of company stock worth $20,532,684 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the first quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Redwood Grove Capital LLC boosted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 5.9% during the first quarter. Redwood Grove Capital LLC now owns 230,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,731,000 after buying an additional 12,950 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the first quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 24.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 2,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 6.0% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 67,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after buying an additional 3,794 shares during the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE ZWS opened at $29.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 3.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.98. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a twelve month low of $25.09 and a twelve month high of $34.58.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $374.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $369.43 million. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 8.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.07%.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

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.