Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) Short Interest Update

Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,037,620 shares, a drop of 16.5% from the February 26th total of 4,836,020 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,875,202 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XYL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $161.00 target price on Xylem in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Xylem in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Xylem from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Xylem from $182.00 to $174.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Xylem in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Xylem currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.08.

Xylem Price Performance

NYSE:XYL opened at $117.58 on Monday. Xylem has a 52 week low of $100.47 and a 52 week high of $154.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $129.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.42. The company has a market capitalization of $28.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Xylem (NYSE:XYL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. Xylem had a return on equity of 11.11% and a net margin of 10.59%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. Xylem has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.350-5.560 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Xylem will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Xylem Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from Xylem’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 24th. Xylem’s payout ratio is 43.88%.

Xylem announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xylem

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in Xylem by 12,326.6% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 45,448,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,189,132,000 after purchasing an additional 45,082,435 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Xylem during the fourth quarter worth $361,012,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Xylem by 2,055.2% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,192,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,342 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Xylem by 19.0% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,197,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $766,669,000 after buying an additional 830,821 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Xylem by 17.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 5,714,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $730,717,000 after buying an additional 830,337 shares during the period. 87.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Xylem

Xylem Inc (NYSE: XYL) is a global water technology company that designs, manufactures and services engineered systems and equipment for the transport, treatment, testing and efficient use of water. Its product portfolio spans pumps and pumping systems, valves, filtration and disinfection equipment, sensors and analytical instruments, and digital solutions for monitoring and control of water infrastructure. Xylem serves the full water cycle with offerings for water and wastewater utilities, industrial customers, commercial and residential buildings, and agricultural applications.

The company was established as an independent publicly traded company in 2011 following a corporate spin-off from ITT Corporation and is headquartered in Rye Brook, New York.