Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Holdings Cut by Credit Suisse AG

Credit Suisse AG lowered its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS – Get Rating) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,790 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,115 shares during the quarter. Credit Suisse AG owned about 0.12% of Watts Water Technologies worth $5,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 12.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 41.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 881 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 14.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 79,951 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,160,000 after acquiring an additional 10,288 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,395,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter valued at approximately $14,626,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $144.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.50.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:WTS opened at $175.48 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $160.19 and its 200-day moving average is $148.24. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.31 and a 52-week high of $181.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.03.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The technology company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The business had revenue of $501.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $489.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 16.04%.

About Watts Water Technologies

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Watts Water Technologies, Inc engages in the manufacture and provision of products for water conservation, safety, and flow control. It operates through the following geographic segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Its services include plumbing and flow control solutions, water quality and conditioning, water reuse and drainage, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and municipal waterworks.