Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,885 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,513,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $13,284,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,866,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 295,748 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,616,000 after acquiring an additional 38,110 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 447,955 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $93,327,000 after acquiring an additional 29,468 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $206.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $212.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $199.50.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:WTS opened at $185.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $201.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.57. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.87 and a 1-year high of $219.52.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $570.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.20 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 21.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,051 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $442,011.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,335.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 1,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.10, for a total value of $324,370.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,345,880.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $442,011.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,335.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,753 shares of company stock valued at $1,236,753 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.