Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 173.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,175 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $6,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Xylem during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Xylem in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Xylem in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Xylem during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Xylem during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Franz Cerwinka sold 2,408 shares of Xylem stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.79, for a total value of $293,270.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,431,032.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,682.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Franz Cerwinka sold 2,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.79, for a total value 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James upgraded Xylem from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Xylem from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Xylem from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Xylem from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Xylem in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xylem has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.11.

Xylem Stock Performance

Shares of XYL stock opened at $127.84 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $127.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.36. The company has a market cap of $30.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.00, a PEG ratio of 2.53 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 8.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is a positive change from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.94%.

Xylem Company 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.