Xylem (NYSE:XYL) Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to Buy

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Xylem (NYSE:XYL – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has $124.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $115.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on XYL. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Xylem from $105.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, November 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Xylem from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, November 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Xylem from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 13th. Cowen raised their price target on shares of Xylem from $105.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 2nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on shares of Xylem from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Xylem presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $114.50.

Xylem Stock Performance

Shares of XYL stock opened at $103.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.65. Xylem has a one year low of $72.08 and a one year high of $118.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.85, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.13. Xylem had a net margin of 5.97% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Xylem will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.18%.

Insider Activity at Xylem

In other Xylem news, SVP Matthew Francis Pine sold 11,870 shares of Xylem stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.12, for a total value of $1,271,514.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,819 shares in the company, valued at $2,444,371.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XYL. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Xylem by 21.7% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,219,000 after buying an additional 2,550 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Xylem by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,328,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Xylem by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 66,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,648,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Xylem by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 335,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,590,000 after purchasing an additional 21,165 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in Xylem in the 1st quarter worth approximately $333,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.57% of the company’s stock.

About Xylem

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Xylem, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and application of engineered technologies for the water industry. It operates through the following business segments: Water Infrastructure, Applied Water, and Measurement and Control Solutions. The Water Infrastructure segment focuses on the transportation, treatment and testing of water.