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

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $330.1111.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WTS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $267.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $379.00 price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 1.0%

WTS opened at $296.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Watts Water Technologies has a 52 week low of $230.47 and a 52 week high of $345.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $301.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.71. The firm has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.20.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $677.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.13 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 14.32%.The company’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies will post 11.66 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.70, for a total transaction of $100,164.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $667,360.40. This represents a 13.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $113,711.37. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,477,947.76. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,674 shares of company stock valued at $9,669,838. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Watts Water Technologies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advyzon Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 843 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,163 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 648 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 5,510 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Company Profile

Watts Water Technologies, Inc is a global manufacturer and distributor of flow control products and solutions designed to ensure the safe, efficient delivery and use of water. Founded in 1874 and headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts, the company has built a reputation for engineering innovation in residential, commercial and industrial plumbing, heating, cooling and water treatment systems. Watts operates through a comprehensive portfolio of brands and product lines that address application-specific requirements in water safety, pressure regulation, flow control and filtration.

The company’s product offerings span backflow preventers, pressure reducing valves, relief valves and steam traps, as well as hydronic balancing and temperature control devices for heating systems.