Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Makes New Investment in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Key Points

• Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. has purchased 204,970 shares of Watts Water Technologies, valued at approximately $50.4 million, representing a 0.61% ownership stake in the company as per their latest SEC filing.
• Watts Water Technologies reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.09, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.68, with revenue rising by 7.8% year-over-year to $643.7 million.
• Analysts currently hold a mixed outlook on Watts Water Technologies, with two ratings at "Buy" and four at "Hold", and an average target price of $253.80.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 204,970 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $50,400,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 0.61% of Watts Water Technologies as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WTS. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,810 shares of the technology company's stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 36,711.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,690 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,560,000 after acquiring an additional 56,536 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 96,974 shares of the technology company's stock worth $19,775,000 after acquiring an additional 9,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total value of $195,682.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at $327,693.30. This trade 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. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WTS shares. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $287.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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 report on Friday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $253.80.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:WTS opened at $282.02 on Friday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.59 and a twelve month high of $287.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $274.85 and a 200-day moving average of $244.24. The firm has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.13.

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 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 company had revenue of $643.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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