Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS Shares Acquired by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 124.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,174 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,531 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $2,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 907,336 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,211,000 after buying an additional 19,247 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 34.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 469,508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $131,124,000 after acquiring an additional 120,090 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 17.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 326,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $90,226,000 after acquiring an additional 48,470 shares in the last quarter. Port Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% during the third quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 251,206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $70,157,000 after acquiring an additional 2,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 223.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 202,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,484,000 after purchasing an additional 139,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $323.00 to $317.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $318.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 5,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.08, for a total transaction of $1,613,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 12,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,944,146.72. The trade was a 29.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.70, for a total value of $100,164.40. Following the sale, the director owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $667,360.40. The trade was a 13.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 31,931 shares of company stock worth $10,349,195 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 0.2%

WTS opened at $300.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $298.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $293.36. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $235.14 and a 12 month high of $345.17.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.32. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 14.32% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The business had revenue of $677.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $638.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.03%.

Watts Water Technologies Company Profile

Watts Water Technologies, Inc is a global manufacturer and distributor of flow control products and solutions designed to ensure the safe, efficient delivery and use of water. Founded in 1874 and headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts, the company has built a reputation for engineering innovation in residential, commercial and industrial plumbing, heating, cooling and water treatment systems. Watts operates through a comprehensive portfolio of brands and product lines that address application-specific requirements in water safety, pressure regulation, flow control and filtration.

The company’s product offerings span backflow preventers, pressure reducing valves, relief valves and steam traps, as well as hydronic balancing and temperature control devices for heating systems.