California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,271 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,211 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.12% of Watts Water Technologies worth $8,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WTS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 235.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 35,679 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,433,000 after acquiring an additional 25,046 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 292,299 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,515,000 after acquiring an additional 18,213 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 296.8% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 16,098 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,782,000 after acquiring an additional 12,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,435 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,633,000 after acquiring an additional 11,715 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WTS opened at $204.69 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.85 and a 12-month high of $219.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 12.75%. The firm had revenue of $547.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $532.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $206.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $191.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.20.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,818 shares in the company, valued at $2,994,865.98. 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 Watts Water Technologies 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 sale, the director now owns 2,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,400.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virginia A. Halloran sold 1,520 shares of Watts Water Technologies 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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. Insiders sold 5,113 shares of company stock worth $1,023,106 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.