Captrust Financial Advisors Purchases 199 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 13.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,649 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 3.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,556,000 after purchasing an additional 9,148 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,484,000 after buying an additional 4,967 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 64.9% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 71,555 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,121,000 after buying an additional 28,170 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the second quarter worth about $2,897,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 171.7% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,507,000 after acquiring an additional 87,900 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Northcoast Research raised Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

WTS opened at $217.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $208.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.20. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.37 and a twelve month high of $222.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $541.83 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Watts Water Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Watts Water Technologies news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 3,429 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $667,454.85. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 14,064 shares in the company, valued at $2,737,557.60. This represents a 19.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total transaction of $955,377.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. The trade was a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.