Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Takes $578,000 Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,835 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $578,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $802,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 2.0% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,172 shares of the technology company's stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 2.0% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 83,861 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $17,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 13.1% in the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 121,178 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $24,711,000 after acquiring an additional 13,999 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WTS. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $234.20.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.1%

Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $259.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.97. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.59 and a 12 month high of $263.07.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 prior year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total value of $1,692,950.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at $674,730. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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