Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Makes New $343,000 Investment in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,684 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,375 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $500,804,000 after purchasing an additional 386,333 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 632,155 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $128,527,000 after acquiring an additional 44,465 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 422,026 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $85,798,000 after acquiring an additional 194,033 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 398,341 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,983,000 after acquiring an additional 40,738 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.00.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 0.3%

WTS stock opened at $245.39 on Tuesday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.37 and a 52 week high of $248.17. The company has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $218.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. Watts Water Technologies’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 23.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. The trade was a 10.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.