UMB Bank n.a. Acquires 58 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 59.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 9,148 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,484,000 after buying an additional 4,967 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 4.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 267,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,411,000 after acquiring an additional 12,159 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 977,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,425,000 after acquiring an additional 8,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 222.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 37,395 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,857,000 after acquiring an additional 25,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total value of $554,561.04. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,457 shares in the company, valued at $2,437,133.04. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total transaction of $331,318.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,463.60. This represents a 26.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Northcoast Research raised Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Three research 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.50.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE WTS opened at $210.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.37 and a 12 month high of $222.70. The company has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.90.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

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

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.