Fox Run Management L.L.C. Buys Shares of 2,289 Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Key Points

• Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased 2,289 shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc., valued at approximately $467,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Watts Water Technologies reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.09, which surpassed analysts' expectations of $2.68, along with a revenue of $643.70 million, indicating a 7.8% year-over-year growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52, with a dividend yield of 0.8%, set to be paid on September 15th to stockholders recorded by August 29th.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,289 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 43.3% in the 1st 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 398,341 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $80,983,000 after buying an additional 40,738 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% in the 1st 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 321,343 shares of the technology company's stock worth $65,528,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTS. Northcoast Research cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $245.50.

Insider Activity

In related 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 shares were sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total value of $1,692,950.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total transaction of $195,682.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,194 shares of the company's stock, valued at $327,693.30. This trade represents a 37.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS traded up $9.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $280.59. 168,163 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,729. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.59 and a twelve month high of $281.60. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $256.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.59. The company has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $643.70 million for 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%.Watts Water Technologies's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 22.37%.

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.