Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS Shares Bought by Groupama Asset Managment

Key Points

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Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 25.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,501 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,685 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment owned approximately 0.23% of Watts Water Technologies worth $15,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 78,159 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,938,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 124.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,273 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,950,000 after acquiring an additional 13,460 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,869 shares of the technology company's stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,669 shares of the technology company's stock worth $66,207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 36,711.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,690 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,560,000 after acquiring an additional 56,536 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $327,693.30. The trade was a 37.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were 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. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of WTS traded up $9.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $280.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 168,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,729. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.59 and a 1-year high of $281.60.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $643.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $612.15 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.11% and a net margin of 13.63%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. Analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.