Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,160 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Watts Water Technologies worth $5,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at about $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Watts Water Technologies news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total transaction of $195,682.85. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $327,693.30. This trade represents a 37.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $287.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.80.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $279.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.11. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.59 and a 52 week high of $287.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $270.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.41. The firm 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.37%.

Watts Water Technologies 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.