Leavell Investment Management Inc. Invests $205,000 in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,007 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,238,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 520,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,778,000 after purchasing an additional 195,778 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,792,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 79.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 106,183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $22,000,000 after purchasing an additional 47,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 122.9% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 74,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,084,000 after purchasing an additional 40,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, 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 note on Monday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

WTS opened at $213.89 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.53. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. Research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.73 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 20.62%.

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.