Blueshift Asset Management LLC Boosts Position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 63.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Xylem by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 111,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,948,000 after acquiring an additional 12,462 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Xylem in the fourth quarter worth about $1,205,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its position in Xylem by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 208,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,160,000 after buying an additional 4,993 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Xylem in the fourth quarter worth about $1,170,000. Finally, RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Xylem in the fourth quarter worth about $651,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on XYL. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.89.

Xylem Stock Performance

NYSE:XYL opened at $119.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $125.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.28. Xylem Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.26 and a 12-month high of $146.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.06. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.72%.

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.