Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 24.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,370 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 24,525 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Watts Water Technologies worth $15,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.5% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,050,215 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $375,948,000 after buying an additional 29,473 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.2% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 715,674 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $131,233,000 after buying an additional 15,462 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 587,538 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,738,000 after buying an additional 6,742 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 60.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 520,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,778,000 after buying an additional 195,778 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 338,378 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,924,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $200.25.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

NYSE WTS opened at $211.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.90. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.37 and a 1 year high of $219.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $202.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.55.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $541.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total transaction of $955,377.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. This trade represents a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total transaction of $331,318.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,463.60. The trade was a 26.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,684 shares of company stock worth $7,241,218. 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.