Boston Common Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Boston Common Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,304 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 38,405 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Xylem were worth $13,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Xylem by 22.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,991,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $403,953,000 after purchasing an additional 554,609 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Xylem in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $68,593,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Xylem during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,169,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Xylem by 17.8% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,657,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,851,000 after acquiring an additional 249,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Xylem by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,329,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,394,792,000 after acquiring an additional 189,820 shares in the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Xylem from $175.00 to $154.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Xylem from $163.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Xylem in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Xylem from $172.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Xylem from $148.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.10.

Xylem Price Performance

XYL traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $119.46. 202,645 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,193,917. Xylem Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.70 and a 1-year high of $146.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.02 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $121.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.90.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11. Xylem had a net margin of 9.85% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Xylem Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Xylem’s payout ratio is currently 42.11%.

About Xylem

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.