Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $248.17 and last traded at $243.21, with a volume of 318648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.00.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.1%

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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $206.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.35.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,730. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total value of $925,700.41. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,204,038.57. This trade represents a 29.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% in the first 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. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

About Watts Water Technologies

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.