Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Acquired by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd grew its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,817 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 6,449 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd owned 0.18% of Watts Water Technologies worth $11,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $200,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,207 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 183,479 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,415,000 after acquiring an additional 15,150 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,869 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,854 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of WTS opened at $246.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $232.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.81. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.37 and a twelve month high of $249.51.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 13.07%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total transaction of $188,467.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,530,314.40. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on Watts Water Technologies and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Northcoast Research cut Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $231.20.

Watts Water Technologies 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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