Curat Global LLC Invests $530,000 in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,600 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $530,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the fourth 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. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% in the first 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. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 366 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $106,000. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 approximately $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total value of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,165 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,118. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:WTS traded up $3.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $244.44. The stock had a trading volume of 123,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,216. The firm has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.65. 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 twelve month low of $175.37 and a twelve month high of $248.17.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. Watts Water Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $222.00.

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.