Farther Finance Advisors LLC Sells 241 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Farther Finance Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 63.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $34,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.0% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,172 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,207 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.3% during the second quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. now owns 4,045 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.5% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 6,595 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 1.3% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,700 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WTS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $287.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.80.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of WTS opened at $277.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.59 and a 1 year high of $287.89. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $275.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.45.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its 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 net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 18.11%. The firm had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total transaction of $195,682.85. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $327,693.30. This trade represents a 37.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.