Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $1.33 Million Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 2.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,437 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 186 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,484,000 after acquiring an additional 4,967 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 64.9% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 71,555 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,121,000 after purchasing an additional 28,170 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,897,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 44,840 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,348,000 after buying an additional 15,901 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 171.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,507,000 after buying an additional 87,900 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,463.60. This trade represents a 26.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total transaction of $554,561.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,437,133.04. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

WTS opened at $215.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.90. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $206.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.82. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.37 and a fifty-two week high of $221.19.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio 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.