Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires 1,154 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,879 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 520.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $206.53 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.90. 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 $219.52.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its earnings results 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. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $541.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. 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.