Corient IA LLC Acquires New Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Key Points

• Corient IA LLC has made a new investment of $408,000 in Watts Water Technologies, acquiring 2,000 shares of the company during the 1st quarter.
• Analysts have varying ratings on Watts Water Technologies, with one upgrading the stock from a "hold" to a "strong-buy", while the consensus target price is $245.50.
• The company recently announced a $0.52 quarterly dividend, equating to an annualized yield of 0.8%.

Corient IA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $195,682.85. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at $327,693.30. The trade was a 37.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $245.50.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of WTS traded up $9.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $280.59. 168,163 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 250,945. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.59 and a 52 week high of $281.60. 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's 50 day moving average is $256.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.38. The company has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $612.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 is presently 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.