DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Decreases Stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lessened its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 44,840 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,221 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.13% of Watts Water Technologies worth $8,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WTS. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% during 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 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 worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE WTS traded down $5.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $247.50. 250,959 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 175,068. The firm has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.59 and a 52-week high of $260.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.24.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 17.59%. Watts Water Technologies's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTS. Northcoast Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 price target on Watts Water Technologies and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $231.20.

Insider Activity

In other Watts Water Technologies news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at $674,730. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 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. Insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.