Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Has $2.05 Million Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,051 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,683 shares during the quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC's holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $2,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WTS. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,375 shares of the technology company's stock worth $500,804,000 after purchasing an additional 386,333 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $60,887,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 422,026 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $85,798,000 after purchasing an additional 194,033 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $23,044,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 36,711.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

WTS stock traded down $2.42 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $248.72. The stock had a trading volume of 138,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,695. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.55. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.59 and a fifty-two week high of $260.93.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This is a boost 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%. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is presently 23.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total transaction of $188,467.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,530,314.40. The trade was a 10.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $234.20.

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.