Impax Asset Management Group plc Sells 233,702 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Impax Asset Management Group plc trimmed its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,258,274 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 233,702 shares during the period. Watts Water Technologies accounts for approximately 1.2% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned about 3.78% of Watts Water Technologies worth $255,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 24.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 392 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 34.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 99.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 544 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,172 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTS. Northcoast Research raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Four 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $215.16 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.37 and a 1 year high of $232.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.79%.

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.