Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 124.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,273 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,460 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.07% of Watts Water Technologies worth $4,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in 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 boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

WTS stock traded up $2.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $240.99. 103,832 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 175,283. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.37 and a 52 week high of $248.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.92.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 23.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTS has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Northcoast Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $222.00.

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.