Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $15.82 Million Stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,370 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 24,525 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $15,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.5% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,050,215 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $375,948,000 after purchasing an additional 29,473 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.2% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 715,674 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $131,233,000 after purchasing an additional 15,462 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 587,538 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,738,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 60.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 520,189 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,778,000 after purchasing an additional 195,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 338,378 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $71,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Watts Water Technologies news, CEO Robert J. Pagano, Jr. sold 20,810 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.20, for a total value of $4,415,882.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 176,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,356,749. The trade was a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on 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 owns 4,430 shares in the company, valued at $941,463.60. The trade was a 26.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,684 shares of company stock worth $7,241,218 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.25.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 0.4 %

WTS opened at $211.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $202.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.90. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.37 and a twelve month high of $219.52.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.62%.

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.