Xponance Inc. Increases Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,085 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,950 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 3.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,272 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $925,700.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,204,038.57. The trade was a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 2.8 %

Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $212.69 on Tuesday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.37 and a twelve month high of $232.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.61.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 19.79%.

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.