Tortoise Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) by 77.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,731 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions were worth $65,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $80,457,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 63.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,441,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119,777 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 49.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,619,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,161,000 after acquiring an additional 868,748 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 4.1% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 8,801,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,645,000 after purchasing an additional 346,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 25.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,615,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,077,000 after purchasing an additional 329,563 shares in the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

ZWS opened at $34.32 on Tuesday. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $28.25 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.74.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.67.

Insider Activity at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions news, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total value of $297,593.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,107,272.70. This represents a 12.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total value 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 represents a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.