Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 1,684 Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,684 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTS. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 366 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $222.00.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of WTS stock traded down $3.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $238.45. 161,219 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,539. The company has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.37 and a 12-month high of $248.17. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $221.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The business's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.83%.

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.