Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. Takes $358,000 Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,716 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,188,071 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $550,962,000 after acquiring an additional 29,113 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA bought a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $125,904,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 447,955 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $93,327,000 after acquiring an additional 29,468 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 295,748 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,616,000 after acquiring an additional 38,110 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 295,591 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,292 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

WTS traded up $0.58 during trading on Monday, hitting $187.78. 127,289 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 133,970. The company has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.97. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.87 and a 1 year high of $219.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The technology company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.22. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $570.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.20 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.34%.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 2,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.39, for a total value of $470,371.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,578.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 2,194 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.39, for a total transaction of $470,371.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,578.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,051 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $442,011.01. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,335.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,753 shares of company stock worth $1,236,753. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $212.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $206.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $199.50.

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.