Invesco Ltd. Acquires 49,462 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 349,418 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 49,462 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.05% of Watts Water Technologies worth $85,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 156.9% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter worth $64,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.4%

WTS opened at $267.29 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.65. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.59 and a 1-year high of $287.89. The stock has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $611.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $576.20 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.79% and a return on equity of 18.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 21.47%.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 6,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.65, for a total value of $1,948,878.10. Following the transaction, the insider owned 23,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,410,621.90. This represents a 23.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 15,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,128,936 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $264.25.

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.