Rhumbline Advisers Boosts Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,974 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,308 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.29% of Watts Water Technologies worth $19,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,950 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,410 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,541,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,208 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Watts Water Technologies news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,530,314.40. The trade was a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:WTS opened at $241.68 on Friday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.37 and a 1-year high of $248.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $221.98 and a 200 day moving average of $213.77. The firm has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.13. 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 (NYSE:WTS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 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.com, Watts Water Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.00.

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.