Topic: How To Invest

Pat: I used to own shares of ITT Corp. on New York, but I sold it a while back. Now it looks like it has broken up. One of the parts, Xylem, looks interesting. What do you think? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

Xylem Inc., $23.49, symbol XYL on New York (Shares outstanding: 184.6 million; Market cap: $4.3 billion; www.xyleminc.com), sells equipment and services for the full spectrum of clean water and wastewater applications: from collecting, distributing, using and returning water to the environment. Xylem is a Greek-derived word that refers to vascular tissue that carries water and nutrients through plants. The company operates through two divisions: The Water Infrastructure division sells a wide range of products, including water and wastewater pumps, controls and systems, as well as water treatment and testing equipment. The Applied Water division focuses on residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural water users. Its main products include pumps, valves, heat exchangers, controls and dispensing equipment. Xylem was formed on October 31, 2011, after ITT Corporation split up into three separate companies: Xylem, ITT Excelis, symbol XLS (defense and information technology) and new ITT, symbol ITT (industrial engineering). ITT shareholders got one Xylem share for each share of ITT they held, plus one share…