Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,435 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,715 shares during the quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC owned 0.27% of Watts Water Technologies worth $18,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 41.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 881 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 79,951 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,160,000 after acquiring an additional 10,288 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $2,395,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $14,626,000. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 764 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total transaction of $152,036.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,832,964. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 329 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.91, for a total value of $65,112.39. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,400.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total transaction of $152,036.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,832,964. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,113 shares of company stock worth $1,023,106 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $191.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $199.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $190.60.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 0.8 %

WTS stock traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $200.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 66,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 121,708. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.29 and a twelve month high of $219.52. The company's fifty day moving average price is $204.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $547.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $532.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.75% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Watts Water Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.41%.

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.