Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,854 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $2,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WTS. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,375 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $500,804,000 after purchasing an additional 386,333 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $60,887,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 422,026 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $85,798,000 after purchasing an additional 194,033 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $23,044,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total value of $1,692,950.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,960,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,730. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on WTS shares. Northcoast Research cut Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 price target on Watts Water Technologies and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.20.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $243.73 on Thursday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $248.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $231.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 13.07%. The firm had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 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.