Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Position in Xylem Inc. $XYL

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,871,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 157,871 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Xylem were worth $254,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xylem in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Xylem in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Xylem by 100.0% in the third quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Xylem in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Xylem in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Xylem Stock Up 0.6%

XYL opened at $110.91 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.59, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. Xylem Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.29 and a 52 week high of $154.27. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.48.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Xylem has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.350-5.600 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 25th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Xylem Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jerome A. Peribere acquired 1,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $116.61 per share, with a total value of $141,098.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 27,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,172,841.49. The trade was a 4.65% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 4,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.46, for a total value of $501,436.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $423,443.30. The trade was a 54.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on XYL. Mizuho set a $138.00 price target on Xylem in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Xylem in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $161.00 price target on Xylem in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Xylem from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Xylem from $156.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.77.

Xylem Company Profile

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.