DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Boosts Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 59.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,939 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 10,741 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.09% of Watts Water Technologies worth $5,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,188,071 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $550,962,000 after buying an additional 29,113 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,128,516 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $358,272,000 after buying an additional 36,810 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 913,288 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $167,798,000 after buying an additional 4,499 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 25.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 691,779 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $96,565,000 after buying an additional 139,042 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 691,138 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $101,065,000 after buying an additional 82,366 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Watts Water Technologies news, CAO Virginia A. Halloran sold 1,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.11, for a total value of $307,207.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,865.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.91, for a total value of $65,112.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,392 shares in the company, valued at $473,400.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virginia A. Halloran sold 1,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.11, for a total value of $307,207.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,865.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,113 shares of company stock valued at $1,023,106. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE WTS opened at $200.48 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.29 and a twelve month high of $219.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $204.61 and its 200 day moving average is $195.74.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.19. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 12.75%. The business had revenue of $547.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $199.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $191.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

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.