Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Sold by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC lowered its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,495 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 416 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC owned 0.07% of Watts Water Technologies worth $4,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.5% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,050,215 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $375,948,000 after acquiring an additional 29,473 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC raised its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 715,674 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $131,233,000 after purchasing an additional 15,462 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 587,538 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,738,000 after buying an additional 6,742 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 60.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 520,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,778,000 after buying an additional 195,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,556,000 after buying an additional 9,148 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total value of $955,377.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,269,278.50. This represents a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total transaction of $554,561.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,437,133.04. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,594 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of WTS stock opened at $215.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $205.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.93. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.37 and a 52 week high of $221.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio 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.