Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Lowers Holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lowered its position in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,866 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 415 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Xylem by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,286 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Xylem by 66.9% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after buying an additional 6,386 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xylem by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,345,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $181,719,000 after buying an additional 5,817 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Xylem by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $427,325,000 after acquiring an additional 691,618 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in Xylem by 89.6% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 16,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 7,723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Xylem Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Xylem stock opened at $123.09 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $124.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.48. The company has a market capitalization of $29.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Xylem Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.26 and a 1 year high of $146.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Xylem’s payout ratio is 43.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on XYL. Citigroup cut shares of Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.89.

Xylem Profile

Xylem Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and servicing of engineered products and solutions worldwide. It operates through four segments: Water Infrastructure, Applied Water, Measurement & Control Solutions, and Integrated Solutions and Services. The Water Infrastructure segment offers products, including water, storm water, and wastewater pumps; controls and systems; filtration, disinfection, and biological treatment equipment; and mobile dewatering equipment and rental services under the ADI, Flygt, Godwin, Sanitaire, Magneto, Neptune Benson, Ionpure, Leopold, Wedeco, and Xylem Vue brands.