Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 25,481 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 57.6%, owning 18,720 shares valued at approximately $3.82 million following the sale of 25,481 shares in the first quarter.
• Watts Water Technologies reported a quarterly profit of $3.09 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.65, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.8%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.8%, with the record date set for August 29th.

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 57.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,720 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 25,481 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Watts Water Technologies worth $3,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTS. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 82 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% in the first 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 position in Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $106,000. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock traded up $1.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $262.67. 295,450 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 202,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.13. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $249.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.86. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.59 and a 1-year high of $269.66.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $643.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $612.15 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $674,730. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,530,314.40. The trade was a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.