E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Decreases Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Key Points

• E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB reduced its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 26.6%, selling 4,550 shares and holding 12,539 shares worth approximately $3.08 million.
• Watts Water Technologies reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.09, exceeding analysts' expectation of $2.68, indicating a revenue increase of 7.8% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 0.7% with a payout ratio of 22.37%.

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB decreased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,539 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,550 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB's holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,375 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $500,804,000 after purchasing an additional 386,333 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew 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 buying an additional 273,628 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter worth $49,199,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 36,711.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,690 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,560,000 after acquiring an additional 56,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 210.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 57,901 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,807,000 after acquiring an additional 39,260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 0.2%

Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $282.07 on Tuesday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.59 and a 52 week high of $285.90. The stock has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.11. The company's 50-day moving average price is $267.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.41. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 18.11%. The business had revenue of $643.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $612.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is currently 22.37%.

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 completion of the sale, the director owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at $327,693.30. This represents a 37.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating 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 report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $245.50.

About Watts Water Technologies

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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