Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys Shares of 3,626 Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,626 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 319,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,996,000 after buying an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,608 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,558,000 after purchasing an additional 8,728 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,507 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,779,000 after purchasing an additional 6,125 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 264.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 82,225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,716,000 after purchasing an additional 7,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,730. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total value of $925,700.41. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,204,038.57. The trade was a 29.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,165 shares of company stock valued at $3,074,168 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.00.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:WTS opened at $243.33 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $209.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.65. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.37 and a 12 month high of $248.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.58 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.83%.

Watts Water Technologies 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.