Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. WTS has experienced a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with WTS holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
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Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the key action regarding Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS).
How are hedge funds trading Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -38% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors had the largest position in Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS), worth close to $94 million, accounting for 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Pivot Point Capital, managed by James A. Noonan, which held a $26.4 million position; the fund has 14.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include John I. Dickerson’s Summit Global Management, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.
Due to the fact that Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS) has witnessed falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there were a few funds who sold off their full holdings heading into Q2. Interestingly, Ian Simm’s Impax Asset Management cut the largest stake of all the hedgies we key on, totaling about $40.3 million in stock., and Abby Flamholz and Yehuda Blinder of ADAR Investment Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $3.2 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 6 funds heading into Q2.
How are insiders trading Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS). These stocks are Sun Hydraulics Corporation (NASDAQ:SNHY), Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA), EnPro Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPO), TriMas Corp (NASDAQ:TRS), and Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE:B). This group of stocks belong to the industrial equipment & components industry and their market caps are similar to WTS’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Sun Hydraulics Corporation (NASDAQ:SNHY) | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) | 31 | 3 | 1 |
| EnPro Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPO) | 17 | 1 | 1 |
| TriMas Corp (NASDAQ:TRS) | 13 | 0 | 8 |
| Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE:B) | 13 | 0 | 4 |
With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
