Quantinno Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,113 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the second quarter valued at $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 520.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $68,000. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total transaction of $554,561.04. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,457 shares in the company, valued at $2,437,133.04. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total transaction of $331,318.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,463.60. This represents a 26.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,974 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,594 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WTS. Northcoast Research raised Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $218.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.37 and a 12 month high of $222.70.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. 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.