Great Lakes Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Xylem by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 272,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,638,000 after buying an additional 14,174 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in Xylem by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Xylem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,673,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in Xylem by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 974,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,041,000 after buying an additional 14,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Xylem by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Xylem Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of XYL stock opened at $122.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $29.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.63. Xylem Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.26 and a 1-year high of $146.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XYL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.89.

Xylem 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.