American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 4.8%, owning 31,552 shares worth approximately $6.43 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Watts Water Technologies reported quarterly earnings of $3.09 per share, exceeding the expected $2.68, alongside a revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, representing a 7.8% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, with a yield of 0.7%, scheduled for payment on September 15th to shareholders of record as of August 29th.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,552 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,441 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.09% of Watts Water Technologies worth $6,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTS. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 78,159 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,938,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 124.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,273 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,950,000 after buying an additional 13,460 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 13.9% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,869 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 36,711.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,690 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,560,000 after purchasing an additional 56,536 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $245.50.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE WTS traded up $0.21 on Tuesday, reaching $277.11. 54,158 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 200,402. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $261.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $233.45. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.59 and a fifty-two week high of $285.90. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $643.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.15 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 18.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 22.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the company'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 owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $327,693.30. This represents a 37.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

About Watts Water Technologies

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.