FIL Ltd Raises Stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

FIL Ltd boosted its position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 469,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,358 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Xylem were worth $54,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of XYL. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Xylem by 231.5% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,561,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $644,039,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883,845 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Xylem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $302,734,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in shares of Xylem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,658,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Xylem by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,326,024 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $269,865,000 after purchasing an additional 698,745 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Xylem by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $427,325,000 after purchasing an additional 691,618 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Xylem Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XYL opened at $110.62 on Thursday. Xylem Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.47 and a 1-year high of $146.08. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $123.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.37. The company has a market capitalization of $26.92 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.72%.

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.