Lazard Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Xylem Inc. $XYL

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 734,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 9,804 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.31% of Xylem worth $87,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xylem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in Xylem during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xylem in the first quarter worth $40,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Xylem during the second quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Xylem during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Xylem from $174.00 to $168.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. CLSA raised shares of Xylem to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Xylem from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Xylem from $159.00 to $157.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Xylem from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xylem has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $153.15.

Insider Activity at Xylem

In other news, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 4,269 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total value of $501,436.74. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,605 shares in the company, valued at $423,443.30. This represents a 54.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jerome A. Peribere acquired 1,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $116.61 per share, for a total transaction of $141,098.10. Following the acquisition, the director owned 27,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,172,841.49. The trade was a 4.65% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Xylem Stock Performance

Shares of XYL opened at $120.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Xylem Inc. has a one year low of $105.29 and a one year high of $154.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $114.27 and a 200 day moving average of $122.55.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Xylem had a return on equity of 11.26% and a net margin of 10.79%.Xylem’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.79%.

Xylem Company Profile

Xylem Inc (NYSE: XYL) is a global water technology company that designs, manufactures and services engineered systems and equipment for the transport, treatment, testing and efficient use of water. Its product portfolio spans pumps and pumping systems, valves, filtration and disinfection equipment, sensors and analytical instruments, and digital solutions for monitoring and control of water infrastructure. Xylem serves the full water cycle with offerings for water and wastewater utilities, industrial customers, commercial and residential buildings, and agricultural applications.

The company was established as an independent publicly traded company in 2011 following a corporate spin-off from ITT Corporation and is headquartered in Rye Brook, New York.