Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 18th, 2023

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS – Get Rating) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,211 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 80.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 184 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the second quarter worth $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 256.3% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 310 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 28.5% in the third quarter. FourThought Financial LLC now owns 370 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the third quarter worth $63,000. 74.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $164.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.56. The firm has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.72. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $116.31 and a 52 week high of $181.40.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The technology company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.29. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 13.16%. The firm had revenue of $471.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $473.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Elie Melhem sold 1,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.06, for a total transaction of $291,584.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,593.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Watts Water Technologies news, insider Elie Melhem sold 1,735 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.06, for a total value of $291,584.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,593.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 15,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.05, for a total value of $2,490,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,811,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,989 shares of company stock worth $4,353,293. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WTS. TD Cowen raised their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. StockNews.com started coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $174.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $144.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.57.

About Watts Water Technologies

(Get Rating)

Watts Water Technologies, Inc engages in the manufacture and provision of products for water conservation, safety, and flow control. It operates through the following geographic segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Its services include plumbing and flow control solutions, water quality and conditioning, water reuse and drainage, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and municipal waterworks.