Is ZWS a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how ZWS compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to ZWS based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes ZWS a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

ZWS - Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Hold DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $54.71 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Platform & Compounding FCF

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

B- 68.3 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for platform & compounding fcf businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 25%

C+ 57.9

5yr Avg ROIC 6.2% 41/100
Operating Margin Trend +1.78 pp/yr 97/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

D- 33.0

5yr Avg ROE 8.2% 51/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 8.2% 0/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 25%

B+ 78.0

5yr Revenue CAGR 16.8% 94/100
5yr EPS CAGR 3.7% 45/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 5/5 100/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 20%

A- 85.0

5yr FCF Margin 16.0% 84/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 1.69x 87/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 10%

A 89.8

Net Debt / EBITDA 0.75x 88/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 9.96x 85/100
Altman Z-Score 5.17 100/100

Stability

Weight: 5%

B- 67.1

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.47 34/100
Piotroski F-Score 8 89/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 0/5 100/100

3 of 3 gurus held; 2 new buys; 1 added; 2 full exits.

Holders: 3
Avg Δ position: +129.0%
New buys: 2
Full exits: 2

Cooperman new
Greenblatt sold -100%
Laffont new

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (25%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (25%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (20%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (10%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (5%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.