Park Avenue Securities LLC Grows Stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,661 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTS. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $68,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 76.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 24.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 392 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WTS shares. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.50.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, CEO Robert J. Pagano, Jr. sold 20,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.20, for a total transaction of $4,415,882.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 176,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,356,749. This represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total value of $554,561.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,437,133.04. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:WTS opened at $210.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.37 and a 52 week high of $222.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $209.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.67.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Watts Water Technologies’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 20.62%.

Watts Water Technologies Company 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.