American Century Companies Inc. Has $8.30 Million Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,754 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.10% of Watts Water Technologies worth $8,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 156.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $64,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 39.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WTS. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $264.25.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 6,814 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.32, for a total transaction of $1,855,588.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,084,800. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,000 shares of company stock worth $4,128,936. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $272.05 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.23. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.59 and a 12 month high of $287.89.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $611.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $576.20 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 13.79%.The company’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.47%.

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.