KBC Group NV Buys 1,662 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

KBC Group NV raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 324,669 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.97% of Watts Water Technologies worth $66,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% during 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 last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 price objective on Watts Water Technologies and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Northcoast Research downgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy 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 $231.20.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $246.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.37 and a twelve month high of $249.51. The company has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company's 50 day moving average is $232.99 and its 200 day moving average is $215.74.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 13.07%. The company's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend 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 is presently 23.83%.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,960,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares in the company, valued at $674,730. This represents a 74.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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