Ethic Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 31.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,311 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $322,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 43.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 905,783 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $184,708,000 after purchasing an additional 273,628 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $49,199,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the second quarter worth approximately $50,400,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2,366.7% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 153,282 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,691,000 after purchasing an additional 147,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 210.6% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 57,901 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,807,000 after purchasing an additional 39,260 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total value of $195,682.85. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $327,693.30. This represents a 37.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Barclays started coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $287.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.80.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $272.57 on Thursday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.59 and a 52 week high of $287.89. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $278.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.55. The firm has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.41. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.11% and a net margin of 13.63%.The business had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 22.37%.

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.