New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $7.01 Million Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,476 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,700 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $7,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 977,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,425,000 after purchasing an additional 8,314 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 741,743 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $153,708,000 after buying an additional 30,688 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 520,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,778,000 after buying an additional 195,778 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 323,007 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,667,000 after buying an additional 19,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,556,000 after buying an additional 9,148 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

WTS stock opened at $218.45 on Thursday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.37 and a 52-week high of $232.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $208.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.75. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.79%.

About Watts Water Technologies

Watts Water Technologies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, supplies products and solutions that manage and conserve the flow of fluids and energy into, through, and out of buildings in the commercial, industrial, and residential markets in the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.