Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lowered its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,060 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 330 shares during the quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTS. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,144 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $395,000. Freedom Day Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,502,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 16,326 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,821,000 after purchasing an additional 4,127 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, CAO Virginia A. Halloran sold 1,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.11, for a total value of $307,207.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,865.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Virginia A. Halloran sold 1,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.11, for a total value of $307,207.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,865.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.50, for a total transaction of $498,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,706,018. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,113 shares of company stock worth $1,023,106 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $206.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $191.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.20.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE WTS traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $201.50. 180,009 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 108,585. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.85 and a 1-year high of $219.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $203.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.94.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.19. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.75% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm had revenue of $547.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $532.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.41%.

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.