Champlain Investment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 521,025 Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 521,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,551,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned 0.29% of Xylem as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XYL. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Xylem by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Xylem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $477,000. Pictet & Cie Europe SA lifted its holdings in shares of Xylem by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet & Cie Europe SA now owns 4,424 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Xylem by 36.3% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 77,294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,093,000 after acquiring an additional 20,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Xylem by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,174,000 after acquiring an additional 3,598 shares during the last quarter. 84.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xylem Trading Down 1.3 %

Xylem stock traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 393,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,214. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.96 and a 200-day moving average of $105.21. Xylem Inc. has a one year low of $84.15 and a one year high of $118.58. The stock has a market cap of $24.62 billion, a PE ratio of 55.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.08.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.13. Xylem had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 12.74%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 31st will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 30th. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is 70.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on XYL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Xylem in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. They set a “hold” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Xylem in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Xylem from $133.00 to $129.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. 888 reaffirmed an “initiates” rating on shares of Xylem in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Xylem in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Xylem currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.25.

Insider Transactions at Xylem

In related news, CEO Patrick Decker sold 99,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.62, for a total value of $11,122,821.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 287,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,097,893.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Xylem Company Profile

Xylem Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and servicing of engineered products and solutions for the water and wastewater applications in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Water Infrastructure, Applied Water, and Measurement & Control Solutions.