Hantz Financial Services Inc. Cuts Stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,009 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,403 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Watts Water Technologies worth $10,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 17.5% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 10,856 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $111,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 15,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,013 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 0.1 %

WTS opened at $215.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 3.07 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.37 and a 12 month high of $221.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $205.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.93.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The business’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 company posted $2.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WTS. Northcoast Research upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.25.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 3,429 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $667,454.85. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 14,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,737,557.60. This represents a 19.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total value of $331,318.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,430 shares in the company, valued at $941,463.60. This represents a 26.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,974 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,594 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.