Boston Trust Walden Corp Purchases 5,193 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 1.0%, acquiring an additional 5,193 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 518,722 shares.
• Institutional investors own 95.02% of Watts Water Technologies, indicating strong institutional support for the company.
• Watts Water Technologies reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $3.09 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a year-over-year revenue growth of 7.8%.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 518,722 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 5,193 shares during the quarter. Watts Water Technologies comprises approximately 0.9% of Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 1.55% of Watts Water Technologies worth $127,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.3% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,470,140 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $503,711,000 after buying an additional 6,765 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 43.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 905,783 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $184,708,000 after buying an additional 273,628 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.7% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 748,328 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $184,006,000 after buying an additional 19,344 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,669 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,207,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 321,343 shares of the technology company's stock worth $65,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total transaction of $195,682.85. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $327,693.30. The trade was a 37.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $287.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $253.80.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $270.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.59 and a 12 month high of $287.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $276.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.45.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $643.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.15 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.11% and a net margin of 13.63%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is 22.37%.

Watts Water Technologies Company 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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