Graham Capital Management L.P. Reduces Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Graham Capital Management L.P. reduced its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,966 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTS. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 366 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 660.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 555 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 45.2% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTS. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the firm’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 value of $925,700.41. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,204,038.57. This trade represents a 29.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,754 shares in the company, valued at $674,730. This represents a 74.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,165 shares of company stock worth $3,074,168. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of WTS opened at $244.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $208.48 and a 200 day moving average of $209.19. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.37 and a twelve month high of $248.17.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The company had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.83%.

Watts Water Technologies 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.