M&T Bank Corp Sells 155 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,411 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $246.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.59 and a 52 week high of $260.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $244.54 and its 200 day moving average is $219.63. The company has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.12.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total transaction of $188,467.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total value of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.20.

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.