Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Sells 7,630 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Key Points

• Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP reduced its position in Watts Water Technologies by 31%, selling 7,630 shares, while still maintaining ownership of 17,007 shares worth approximately $3.47 million.
• Institutional investors now own 95.02% of Watts Water Technologies, with several hedge funds increasing or establishing new stakes in the company during the first quarter.
• Watts Water Technologies announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for August 29th, reflecting a 0.8% dividend yield.

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP reduced its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 31.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,007 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 7,630 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP owned 0.05% of Watts Water Technologies worth $3,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $64,000. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $195,682.85. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,194 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $327,693.30. This trade represents a 37.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Northcoast Research cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $245.50.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:WTS opened at $271.1140 on Friday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.59 and a 12 month high of $279.16. The company's 50-day moving average price is $255.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.15 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 18.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.37%.

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.

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