Citigroup Inc. Buys 15,290 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 157.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,006 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 15,290 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.08% of Watts Water Technologies worth $5,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WTS. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 520.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 273 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $68,000. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $200.25.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total value of $331,318.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,463.60. The trade was a 26.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total value of $955,377.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. The trade was a 22.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 0.5 %

WTS traded down $1.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $213.90. 113,420 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 145,101. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $206.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.68. The company has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $221.19.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

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.