Vancity Investment Management Ltd Acquires New Shares in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Key Points

• Vancity Investment Management Ltd acquired 4,263 shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc., valued at approximately $869,000, during the first quarter.
• Watts Water Technologies recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $3.09 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.41.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, which is scheduled to be paid on September 15th, indicating an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Vancity Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,263 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $869,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 0.3% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,470,140 shares of the technology company's stock worth $503,711,000 after purchasing an additional 6,765 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 273,628 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,669 shares of the technology company's stock worth $66,207,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 321,343 shares of the technology company's stock worth $65,528,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 6.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 299,956 shares of the technology company's stock worth $61,167,000 after buying an additional 18,516 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Watts Water Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $245.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at $327,693.30. The trade was a 37.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTS traded down $2.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $281.55. 105,654 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 163,245. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.59 and a 1-year high of $285.90. The company has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.11. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $266.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is currently 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.