Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,028,066 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 61,785 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Watts Water Technologies worth $617,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,375 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $500,804,000 after buying an additional 386,333 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 422,026 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $85,798,000 after buying an additional 194,033 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 398,341 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,983,000 after purchasing an additional 40,738 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,669 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Port Capital LLC boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 231,193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,002,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Northcoast Research downgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.50.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total value of $195,682.85. Following the sale, the director owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at $327,693.30. The trade was a 37.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $277.41 on Thursday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.59 and a fifty-two week high of $278.20. The company has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.41. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.11% and a net margin of 13.63%. The business had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.37%.

Watts Water Technologies Company Profile

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.