AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Decreases Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc trimmed its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,802 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,549 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned 0.14% of Watts Water Technologies worth $9,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 76.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.50.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:WTS opened at $210.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.37 and a fifty-two week high of $222.70. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $209.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $201.90.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 20.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total transaction of $955,377.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares in the company, valued at $3,269,278.50. The trade was a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert J. Pagano, Jr. sold 20,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.20, for a total value of $4,415,882.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 176,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,356,749. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.