Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 22,949 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,281 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 22,949 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $22,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 13.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,895 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,416 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Freedom Day Solutions LLC raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,610,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $287.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total value of $195,682.85. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $327,693.30. The trade was a 37.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 0.6%

WTS stock opened at $275.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $277.67 and its 200 day moving average is $248.35. The stock has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.59 and a 1-year high of $287.89.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.15 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 18.11%. Watts Water Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.37%.

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.