JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 267,439 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,159 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.80% of Watts Water Technologies worth $55,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,238,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 60.3% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 520,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,778,000 after buying an additional 195,778 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 1,070.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 209,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,324,000 after purchasing an additional 191,146 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 171.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,507,000 after buying an additional 87,900 shares during the period. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,792,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 3,429 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $667,454.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 14,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,737,557.60. The trade was a 19.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert J. Pagano, Jr. sold 20,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.20, for a total value of $4,415,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 176,045 shares in the company, valued at $37,356,749. This represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Northcoast Research raised Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.50.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 1.3 %

WTS stock opened at $203.18 on Friday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.37 and a 52 week high of $222.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $208.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $199.60.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.