Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $1.52 Million Stock Holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Xylem were worth $1,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Xylem by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,683,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $427,325,000 after purchasing an additional 691,618 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Xylem in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $68,593,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Xylem in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,169,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Xylem by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,657,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,851,000 after purchasing an additional 249,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Xylem by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,329,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,394,792,000 after buying an additional 189,820 shares in the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Xylem from $163.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Xylem from $138.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Xylem from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.90.

Xylem Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE XYL opened at $129.41 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.44 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $121.33 and its 200 day moving average is $127.16. Xylem Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.26 and a twelve month high of $146.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.06. Xylem had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 9.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Xylem Inc. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

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.