Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Position Boosted by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,410 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $2,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 4.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 267,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,411,000 after purchasing an additional 12,159 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 319,703 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,996,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,507 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,779,000 after acquiring an additional 6,125 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 264.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 4,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 82,225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,716,000 after purchasing an additional 7,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $925,700.41. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,204,038.57. The trade was a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $198.58 on Wednesday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.37 and a 52-week high of $232.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $207.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.22.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 19.79%.

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.