Cullen Investment Group LTD. Makes New Investment in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,477 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XYL. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Xylem by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 21,219,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,221,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011,317 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Xylem by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,390,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,738,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435,798 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Xylem by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,692,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $805,357,000 after acquiring an additional 121,367 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Xylem by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,528,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $412,267,000 after acquiring an additional 466,911 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Xylem by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,182,821 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $380,762,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Xylem

In related news, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total transaction of $122,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,935 shares in the company, valued at $360,682.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Xylem news, CAO Geri-Michelle Mcshane sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.89, for a total transaction of $122,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,935 shares in the company, valued at $360,682.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Franz Cerwinka sold 2,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.79, for a total transaction of $293,270.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,431,032.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on XYL shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Xylem from $126.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Xylem from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Xylem from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Xylem from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Xylem in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xylem presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.44.

Xylem Stock Performance

NYSE XYL opened at $127.29 on Tuesday. Xylem Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.59 and a 1 year high of $130.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.80, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.64.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Xylem had a net margin of 8.27% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business’s revenue was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Xylem Inc. will post 4.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. This is a positive change from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Xylem’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.94%.

Xylem Company 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.