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Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS – Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $573,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 805 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 53.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 843 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor by 507.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $58.00 price objective on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.22.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Insider Transactions at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor In other news, Director Jacques Donavon Butler bought 2,016 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $49.60 per share, with a total value of $99,993.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 37,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,859,355.20. This trade represents a 5.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Stock Performance NYSE ZWS opened at $49.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 3.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $49.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor has a fifty-two week low of $43.06 and a fifty-two week high of $55.00.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 15.45%.The business had revenue of $491.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.16%.

(Free Report)

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corp, trading on the NYSE under the ticker ZWS, is a global provider of water delivery and plumbing products. The company was established in October 2022 through a spin-off from Rexnord Corp, creating a standalone business focused on designing, manufacturing and marketing water system components for residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Through its Zurn segment, the company offers solutions for water delivery, drainage and waste evacuation. Product lines include valves, hydrants, backflow prevention devices, piping systems, fittings and commercial waste stations.

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Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor NYSE: ZWS reported second-quarter organic sales growth of 10% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 15%, supported by demand in its Water Safety and Control and Drinking Water product lines, higher pricing, and margin expansion.

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Second-quarter sales totaled $491 million, while adjusted EBITDA reached $136 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 120 basis points from a year earlier to a record 27.7%, exceeding the company’s prior guidance range of 27% to 27.5%.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Todd Adams said the company generated $112 million in free cash flow during the quarter and repurchased $50 million of shares at roughly $48 per share. Year-to-date share repurchases totaled $100 million.

Demand, pricing and profitability Chief Financial Officer Dan Klun said institutional end markets continued to show positive momentum, partly offset by residential weakness and pockets of softness in commercial markets. Price contributed approximately 5% to second-quarter growth, consistent with the first quarter.

Water Safety and Control and Drinking Water grew faster than the company average during the quarter, according to Klun. During the question-and-answer session, Adams said those two platforms were growing somewhat faster than Flow Systems, while Hygienic and Environmental remained positive but grew at a slower rate.

The company attributed margin improvement to operating leverage on higher volume, productivity efforts under its Zurn Elkay Business System, and favorable mix as higher-margin products led growth. First-half sales and EBITDA increased $91 million and $36 million, respectively, from the prior year. The company’s first-half adjusted EBITDA margin was 27.3%, up about 140 basis points year over year.

Klun also noted that the company received $48 million in cash related to IEPA and reciprocal tariff refunds, including $2 million of accrued interest. The refund was recorded in cost of goods sold and affected reported GAAP earnings and earnings per share, but was excluded from adjusted earnings and free cash flow. As of June 30, Zurn Elkay had about $60 million of IEPA and reciprocal tariffs that remained uncollected and unrecognized in its financial statements.

Net debt leverage ended the quarter at 0.3 times, the lowest level in the company’s history as a public company, Klun said.

Intellihot acquisition expands water-heating presence Zurn Elkay recently completed its acquisition of Intellihot, a producer of commercial tankless condensing water heaters. Adams said the company paid $109 million for the business, or $100 million net of a tax asset. Intellihot is expected to generate about $37 million of sales in 2026, with gross margins of about 50% and EBITDA margins in the low teens.

Management said the transaction adds a $1.1 billion commercial water-heating market to its addressable market, including a tankless segment of more than $200 million. President Jeff Schoon said tankless water heating is growing faster than the broader commercial water-heating category, driven by efficiency regulations, building-owner concerns around Legionella risk, smaller mechanical-room requirements, and operating-cost savings.

Adams said Zurn Elkay sees a path for Intellihot to become a $100 million business with a 30% EBITDA margin within five to six years, and expects a double-digit return on invested capital in three years. The company plans to use its specification, contractor, wholesaler and end-user relationships to expand Intellihot’s reach, while also pursuing supply-chain and operational improvements.

Management said Intellihot was not acquired for a near-term earnings contribution. For the final five months of 2026, Klun estimated the acquisition would contribute about $18 million in net sales.

Drinking Water and portfolio initiatives Chief Operating Officer Dave Pauli said adjusted EBITDA margins have improved 660 basis points on a trailing 12-month basis from the first quarter of 2023 through the second quarter of 2026. On a point-to-point basis, margins rose 820 basis points over 14 quarters, from 19.5% in the first quarter of 2023 to 27.7% in the latest quarter.

Pauli cited continuous-improvement initiatives, growth in higher-margin product lines, portfolio pruning under the company’s 80/20 strategy, manufacturing footprint consolidation, and sourcing changes as contributors. He said the company’s efforts to reduce sourcing from China have provided both geopolitical risk mitigation and a lower landed-cost profile.

In Drinking Water, the company said its filtration business has grown from less than $25 million of sales before the Elkay merger to more than $60 million expected this year. Zurn Elkay expects more than 60% of Drinking Water units sold in 2026 to be filtered, compared with 50% in 2023, and is targeting 70% in 2027.

The company highlighted its Elkay Pro Filtration platform, which adds easier filter replacement, options for two filters, connectivity features and proprietary filter heads intended to prevent use of counterfeit filters.

Outlook raised Following its first-half performance, Zurn Elkay raised its full-year outlook for sales, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. The company expects third-quarter core sales growth of 6% to 7% and adjusted EBITDA margin of about 28%. Fourth-quarter core sales growth is expected to be in the mid-single digits.

For 2026, including Intellihot, the company expects adjusted EBITDA of $503 million to $513 million and free cash flow of at least $350 million, excluding past and future IEPA reciprocal tariff refunds.

Adams said the company’s full-year assumptions include three to four percentage points of pricing, about one point of market growth, and additional growth from share gains and exposure to higher-growth categories. He said the outlook incorporates the transition from expired Section 122 tariffs to newly announced Section 301 tariffs.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Cor (NYSE:ZWS)Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corp, trading on the NYSE under the ticker ZWS, is a global provider of water delivery and plumbing products. The company was established in October 2022 through a spin-off from Rexnord Corp, creating a standalone business focused on designing, manufacturing and marketing water system components for residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Through its Zurn segment, the company offers solutions for water delivery, drainage and waste evacuation. Product lines include valves, hydrants, backflow prevention devices, piping systems, fittings and commercial waste stations.

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