M&T Bank Corp Purchases 74 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,272 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 23,584 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,325,000 after buying an additional 5,082 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 520.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 84,301 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,458,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 30.0% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, North Growth Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 36,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total value of $955,377.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. This represents a 22.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 3,429 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $667,454.85. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 14,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,737,557.60. This trade represents a 19.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,594. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.50.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

NYSE WTS opened at $214.72 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $208.93 and its 200-day moving average is $198.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.37 and a 12-month high of $222.70.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 20.62%.

Watts Water Technologies Profile

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.