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

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 124.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (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 0.07% of Watts Water Technologies worth $4,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,375 shares of the technology company's stock worth $500,804,000 after buying an additional 386,333 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 632,155 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $128,527,000 after acquiring an additional 44,465 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 422,026 shares of the technology company's stock worth $85,798,000 after purchasing an additional 194,033 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 398,341 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,983,000 after purchasing an additional 40,738 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 319,703 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $64,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at $674,730. This trade represents a 74.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on Watts Water Technologies and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Northcoast Research cut Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $231.20.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTS traded up $0.56 during trading on Thursday, hitting $241.08. 221,183 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,527. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.37 and a 52-week high of $248.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $226.20 and a 200 day moving average of $214.46. 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 company has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. The business 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

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.