Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 279,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,898 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Xylem worth $32,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of XYL. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Xylem by 9.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,850,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Xylem by 22.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,991,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $403,953,000 after acquiring an additional 554,609 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Xylem by 270.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Xylem by 11.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 135,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,320,000 after acquiring an additional 13,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Xylem by 16.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. 87.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Xylem from $166.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Xylem from $138.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut shares of Xylem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Xylem from $163.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research restated 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.90.

Xylem Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Xylem stock opened at $127.32 on Friday. Xylem Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.26 and a 52-week high of $146.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $121.81 and a 200 day moving average of $127.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $30.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.07.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Xylem had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 9.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Xylem Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Xylem’s payout ratio is currently 43.72%.

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.