Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 394,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,237 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.16% of Xylem worth $46,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of XYL. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Xylem by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,286 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Xylem by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after buying an additional 6,386 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Xylem by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,325,000 after acquiring an additional 691,618 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in Xylem by 89.6% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 16,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 7,723 shares during the period. Finally, Benson Investment Management Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Xylem during the fourth quarter worth $5,094,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Xylem Price Performance

Xylem stock opened at $119.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Xylem Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.26 and a 52-week high of $146.08. The firm has a market cap of $29.02 billion, a PE ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $125.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.88.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.06. Xylem had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Xylem’s payout ratio is currently 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.