Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $231.20.

Several equities research analysts have commented on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on Watts Water Technologies and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 6,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. The trade was a 10.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,730. This represents a 74.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Watts Water Technologies

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 0.2%

WTS opened at $251.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Watts Water Technologies has a 12 month low of $177.59 and a 12 month high of $260.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.29.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 13.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

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.