Renaissance Technologies LLC Grows Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 58.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 135,140 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 49,960 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $39,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 907,336 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,211,000 after purchasing an additional 19,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 832,148 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $229,721,000 after purchasing an additional 25,501 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 545,404 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,325,000 after purchasing an additional 34,381 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 522,624 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $144,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 34.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 469,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $131,124,000 after purchasing an additional 120,090 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $358.00 price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 8th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $360.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered Watts Water Technologies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $379.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Barclays raised Watts Water Technologies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $317.00 to $414.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $345.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Watts Water Technologies news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 398 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.63, for a total transaction of $123,232.74. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $561,668.82. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,257 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total value of $679,357.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,697,863. This trade represents a 20.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of WTS opened at $346.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $250.82 and a 1-year high of $394.54. The stock has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $336.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.24.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.32. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 14.32%.The company had revenue of $677.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $638.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 12.23 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

About Watts Water Technologies

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.