Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Acquired by Boston Partners

Boston Partners grew its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 632,155 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 44,465 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $128,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,556,000 after acquiring an additional 9,148 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 4.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 267,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,411,000 after purchasing an additional 12,159 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 977,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,425,000 after purchasing an additional 8,314 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,507 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,779,000 after purchasing an additional 6,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 264.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total value of $925,700.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,204,038.57. This represents a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of WTS opened at $211.82 on Wednesday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.37 and a 1-year high of $232.60. The stock has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a PE ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $210.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.11.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 19.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.00.

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.