Head to Head Review: Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (ZWS) vs. Its Rivals

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS) is one of 39 publicly-traded companies in the “Waste Removal Svcs” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor to similar businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	0	4	3	0	2.43
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Competitors	323	1117	1894	130	2.53

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor presently has a consensus price target of $36.29, suggesting a potential upside of 0.46%. As a group, “Waste Removal Svcs” companies have a potential upside of 11.94%. Given Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	10.72%	14.43%	8.56%
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Competitors	-97.71%	-458.29%	-3.74%

Dividends

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor pays out 36.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Waste Removal Svcs” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.1% and pay out 50.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor’s competitors have a beta of 0.62, meaning that their average share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor	$1.57 billion	$160.20 million	36.48
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Competitors	$3.26 billion	$263.08 million	30.84

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.3% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.0% of shares of all “Waste Removal Svcs” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.6% of shares of all “Waste Removal Svcs” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor competitors beat Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation engages in design, procurement, manufacture, and marketing of water management solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers water safety and control products, such as backflow preventers, fire system valves, pressure reducing valves, thermostatic mixing valves, PEX pipings, fittings, and installation tools under the Zurn and Wilkins brand names. The company also provides flow systems products comprising point drains, hydrants, fixture carrier systems, chemical drainage systems; and interceptors and separators, acid neutralization systems, and remote monitoring systems under the Zurn and Green Turtle brands. In addition, it develops, manufactures, and markets remote tank monitoring devices, alarms, software, and services. Further, the company offers sensor-operated flush valves under the AquaSense, Aquaflush, and AquaVantage brands; heavy-duty commercial faucets under the AquaSpec brand; water conserving fixtures under the EcoVantage and Zurn One brands; stainless steel products under the Just Manufacturing brand name, which include stainless steel sinks and plumbing fixtures, and various types of sinks, as well as drinking water dispensing and filtration products under the Elkay and Halsey Taylor brands. It distributes to institutional, commercial, waterworks, and residential end markets through independent sales representatives, plumbing wholesalers, and industry-specific distributors in the waterworks, foodservice, industrial, janitorial, sanitation, and sitework industries. The company was formerly known as Zurn Water Solutions Corporation and changed its name to Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation in July 2022. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation was incorporated in 1892 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.