Ethic Inc. Purchases 4,855 Shares of Xylem Inc. $XYL

Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,855 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Xylem were worth $9,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Xylem by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after buying an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in Xylem by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 21,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,897,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Xylem in the 4th quarter valued at about $71,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its position in Xylem by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 13,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Xylem in the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. 87.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYL has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $158.00 price objective on Xylem in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Xylem from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays dropped their target price on Xylem from $156.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered Xylem from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Xylem from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.77.

Xylem Stock Down 1.6%

XYL stock opened at $113.76 on Friday. Xylem Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.45 and a twelve month high of $154.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $122.63 and its 200-day moving average is $134.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Xylem had a return on equity of 11.26% and a net margin of 10.79%.Xylem’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Xylem has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.350-5.600 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a boost from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.79%.

Xylem declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 25th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Xylem

In other news, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 4,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total value of $501,436.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $423,443.30. This represents a 54.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jerome A. Peribere bought 1,210 shares of Xylem stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $116.61 per share, with a total value of $141,098.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 27,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,172,841.49. This represents a 4.65% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

About Xylem

Xylem Inc (NYSE: XYL) is a global water technology company that designs, manufactures and services engineered systems and equipment for the transport, treatment, testing and efficient use of water. Its product portfolio spans pumps and pumping systems, valves, filtration and disinfection equipment, sensors and analytical instruments, and digital solutions for monitoring and control of water infrastructure. Xylem serves the full water cycle with offerings for water and wastewater utilities, industrial customers, commercial and residential buildings, and agricultural applications.

The company was established as an independent publicly traded company in 2011 following a corporate spin-off from ITT Corporation and is headquartered in Rye Brook, New York.