HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Increases Stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 101.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,480 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $1,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Xylem during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Xylem during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Xylem in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Xylem by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xylem by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. 87.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Xylem Price Performance

XYL stock opened at $119.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Xylem Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.26 and a 1 year high of $146.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $125.65 and a 200 day moving average of $125.69. The company has a market cap of $29.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

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