Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Stock Position Boosted by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 124.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,273 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 13,460 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Watts Water Technologies worth $4,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

WTS stock opened at $238.45 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $248.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.92.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The company had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $219.00 to $229.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,730. This represents a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total transaction of $188,467.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.