Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Reduces Stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 63.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,942 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,178 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,382 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,484,000 after buying an additional 4,967 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 64.9% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 71,555 shares of the technology company's stock worth $13,121,000 after buying an additional 28,170 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,897,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 44,840 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,348,000 after buying an additional 15,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,100 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,507,000 after buying an additional 87,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total value of $554,561.04. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,437,133.04. The trade was a 18.54 % 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 dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total value of $955,377.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares in the company, valued at $3,269,278.50. This trade represents a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,974 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,594 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Watts Water Technologies stock traded up $4.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $215.17. The company had a trading volume of 144,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,224. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.37 and a 52 week high of $219.52. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $204.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $541.83 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Watts Water Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Northcoast Research upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $200.25.

Watts Water Technologies Company 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.