Cibc World Markets Corp Purchases New Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,563 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 660.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 555 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 45.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $231,000. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Watts Water Technologies news, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $925,700.41. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,469 shares in the company, valued at $2,204,038.57. This trade represents a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $207.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.59. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $210.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.35. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.37 and a fifty-two week high of $232.60. The company has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 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, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 19.79%.

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.