Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Bought by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 2.0%, owning 83,861 shares valued at approximately $17.1 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Watts Water Technologies reported an EPS of $2.37 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, despite experiencing a 2.3% drop in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.43 to $0.52, reflecting a growing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,861 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.25% of Watts Water Technologies worth $17,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% in the first 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, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,754 shares in the company, valued at $674,730. This trade represents a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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, July 21st. Northcoast Research cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $234.20.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

WTS traded down $2.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $259.42. 335,398 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 196,243. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $247.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.58. 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 company has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.12. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.59 and a 1 year high of $263.07.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $547.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.33 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.83%.

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.