Everence Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 19.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,850 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,060 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $1,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XYL. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Xylem by 5.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 21,219,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,221,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,317 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Xylem by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,390,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,738,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435,798 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Xylem by 1.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,692,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $805,357,000 after acquiring an additional 121,367 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Xylem by 11.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,528,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $412,267,000 after purchasing an additional 466,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Xylem by 35.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,182,821 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $380,762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086,102 shares during the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xylem Price Performance

Shares of NYSE XYL opened at $128.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. Xylem Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.59 and a 52 week high of $130.86.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Xylem had a net margin of 8.27% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business’s revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Xylem Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Xylem’s payout ratio is currently 52.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Franz Cerwinka sold 2,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.79, for a total transaction of $293,270.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,431,032.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total value of $122,890.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,682.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Franz Cerwinka sold 2,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.79, for a total transaction of $293,270.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,431,032.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XYL. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Xylem from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Xylem from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Xylem from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Xylem from $126.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Xylem from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.44.

About Xylem

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.