Park Place Capital Corp Trims Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Park Place Capital Corp cut its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 342 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $63,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTS. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 502.7% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 223 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.8 %

WTS traded down $3.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $199.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 171,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,502. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $191.34 and its 200-day moving average is $200.24. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.87 and a 1 year high of $219.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.90.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.22. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $570.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 21.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $212.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,051 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $442,011.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,335.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Watts Water Technologies news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 2,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.39, for a total transaction of $470,371.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $601,578.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,051 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $442,011.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,226 shares in the company, valued at $2,850,335.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,753 shares of company stock worth $1,236,753. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.