VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New $1.79 Million Investment in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,290 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTS. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 78,159 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,938,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,669 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,207 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at $259,000. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.80.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WTS opened at $281.88 on Thursday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.59 and a 1-year high of $287.89. The company has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $278.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.58.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.15 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 18.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 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 Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.37%.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total value of $195,682.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $327,693.30. This represents a 37.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.