Zurn Elkay Water.

Zurn Elkay sells plumbing hardware at a 33.5x trailing P/E after the stock climbed roughly 80% in 2025.

If you own ZWS, you need to know the business is solid and the stock already knows it.

zws

industrials mid cap updated mar 13, 2026
$50.96
market cap ~$8B · 52-week range $28–$53
xvary composite: 57 / 100 · below average
our overall rating — combines growth, value, risk, and momentum
Start here if you're new
what it is
Zurn Elkay makes the water fixtures, drains, valves, and bottle fillers that keep schools, hospitals, and offices running.
how it gets paid
Last year Zurn Elkay Water made $1.7B in revenue. Water safety and control was the main engine at $0.54B, or 32% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 8.3% last year. Growing demand for its sustainable water management solutions.
what just happened
Latest quarter revenue ~$425M ballpark (~$1.7B FY ÷ 4)—not $1.3B as consolidated quarterly sales. EPS still missed consensus by ~26.47% on the last print.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
33.5x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
1.0% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
14.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 57/100 — below average
What they do
Zurn Elkay makes the water fixtures, drains, valves, and bottle fillers that keep schools, hospitals, and offices running.
This is a specification-driven business (specification-driven → architects and builders choose the product before construction starts → your replacement odds shrink once the job is designed). That matters because Zurn Elkay turned $1.7 billion of revenue into a 16.7% net profit margin in 2025, with just 9% of sales outside the U.S. You are not betting on a trendy gadget. You are betting that schools and hospitals keep buying approved parts from the same vendor.
industrials mid-cap water-infrastructure commercial-construction dividend
How they make money
$1.7B annual revenue · their business grew +8.3% last year
Water safety and control
$0.54B
Flow systems
$0.43B
Hygienic and environmental
$0.36B
Filtered drinking water
$0.22B
International sales
$0.15B
The products that matter
commercial water management hardware
Water systems
$1.7B revenue · 100% of sales
it's the whole company. all $1.7B of revenue comes from this business, which means pricing, project volume, and execution all hit the income statement in one place.
100% of revenue
Key numbers
33.5x
trailing p/e
P/E → price-to-earnings → how much you pay for each dollar of profit. You are paying a premium price for an industrial company.
16.7%
net margin
Net margin → profit after all costs → what the company keeps. Keeping nearly 17 cents of every dollar is strong for this kind of business.
14.5%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit generated from money invested in the business → whether management is turning dollars into earnings efficiently.
$496M
long-term debt
Long-term debt → money owed over years → balance sheet pressure. Debt is just 6% of capital, which keeps financial risk under control.
Financial health
B++
strength
  • balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
  • risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
  • price stability 65 / 100
  • long-term debt $496M (6% of capital)
  • net profit margin 16.7% — keeps 17 cents of every dollar in revenue
  • return on equity 16% — $0.16 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market

You invested $10,000 in ZWS 3 years ago → it's now worth $22,750.

The index would have given you $14,540.

same period. same starting point. ZWS beat the market by $8,210.

source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
Quarter revenue ~$425M (FY ~$1.7B ÷ 4)—the old $1.3B line did not foot as one quarter. EPS still missed consensus by ~26.47%.
The business posted solid FY growth after Elkay merger math washed through. A premium multiple still needs cleaner EPS execution than the last miss.
~$425M
quarter revenue (est.)
$0.25
eps
45.3%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The 26.47% EPS miss matters most because a 33.5x earnings stock gets judged on execution, not effort.
source: company earnings report, 2026

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What could go wrong

the #1 risk is elkay integration and margin slippage inside a 33.5x earnings stock.

∘
med
post-merger margin drift
The market is paying up because ZWS turned $1.7B of revenue into a 15.7% annual net margin and just posted a 44% EPS jump in the latest quarter. If integration costs or operating friction pull margins lower, the premium story gets simpler in a bad way.
A business priced at 33.5x trailing earnings does not need a disaster to rerate. It just needs a few ordinary quarters.
∘
med
one-bucket revenue exposure
All $1.7B of revenue comes from the same water-systems business. That makes the model clean, but it also means there is no second engine to offset a slowdown in commercial building, retrofit activity, or specification wins.
If that bucket slows, 100% of revenue feels it.
∘
med
the stock already had its big rerating
Shares have climbed from the lower end of a $28–$53 range to $50.96, and the stock is up roughly 80% over the past year. Analysts still model $1.65 in earnings this year, but the room for disappointment is smaller now.
Missing that $1.65 path would pressure both earnings expectations and the multiple sitting on top of them.
With all $1.7B of revenue tied to one operating story and the stock near the top of its $28–$53 range, execution risk matters more than balance-sheet risk here.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
next quarterly print
the stock just posted $0.36 of quarterly EPS and a beat. you want to see whether that pace holds now that expectations are higher.
metric
margin consistency
annual net margin was 15.7%. last quarter it was 13.6%. if that gap keeps widening, the premium story stops looking premium.
trend
eps path to $1.65
that full-year estimate is the number holding up roughly 30.9x forward earnings. cuts to it would matter fast.
risk
institutional follow-through
institutions were net buyers for three straight quarters and buyers outnumbered sellers 145 to 132 in 4q2025. if that support fades, sentiment may follow it.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts do not see a clear short-term edge right now.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — neither a bunker stock nor a chaos stock. You should expect fairly normal industrial volatility.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 — analysts expect above-average price performance in the year ahead. in human-speak, they still like the tape more than the valuation alone.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity

institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 145 buyers vs. 132 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.1B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.

source: institutional data · 2q2025-4q2025
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$41 $75
$51 current price
$58 target midpoint · +14% from current · 3-5yr high: $75 (+45% · 11% ann'l return)
source: institutional data · analyst targets

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