Rhumbline Advisers Grows Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,974 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 9,308 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.29% of Watts Water Technologies worth $19,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 worth $11,560,000 after buying an additional 56,536 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter worth $205,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $822,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $674,730. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

WTS stock traded down $3.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $238.45. 161,219 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 175,313. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.37 and a 1-year high of $248.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.77. The company has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. The firm's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Northcoast Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $222.00.

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.