Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 458 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,660 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 458 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 122.9% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 74,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,084,000 after acquiring an additional 40,912 shares during the last quarter. Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $1,037,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 323,007 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,667,000 after acquiring an additional 19,598 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,328 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.50.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WTS opened at $224.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $203.16. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.37 and a 52-week high of $232.60.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. Analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.73 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.62%.

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.