Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Watts Water Technologies received a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 11 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $367.70. Ratings include six holds, four buys, and one strong buy.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $3.66, exceeding estimates of $3.34, while revenue reached $763.1 million and increased 18.6% year over year.
• Insiders recently sold shares, while institutional investors own 95.02% of the stock. Watts also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.63, equivalent to a 0.7% annualized yield.

Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $367.70.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $379.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $275.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $350.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $405.00 price target on Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, Director Joseph Noonan sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.72, for a total transaction of $1,291,078.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 1,096 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $359.55, for a total transaction of $394,066.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,828,579.85. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 5.8% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,831 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 9.7% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,138 shares of the technology company's stock worth $837,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,668 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,005,000 after buying an additional 4,832 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 769.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 8,421.5% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 104,815 shares of the technology company's stock worth $41,030,000 after purchasing an additional 103,585 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WTS opened at $358.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies has a one year low of $260.00 and a one year high of $394.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $361.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $332.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $763.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.99 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 19.16% and a net margin of 14.34%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.09 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies will post 12.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.01%.

About Watts Water Technologies

Watts Water Technologies, Inc is a manufacturer of products and systems designed to manage the safety, efficiency, and quality of water within residential, commercial, and industrial plumbing and heating applications. Its offerings help regulate water pressure and temperature, prevent backflow and contamination, control flow, and improve water quality.

The company's products include valves, backflow prevention devices, regulators, drainage and plumbing components, water filtration and treatment systems, electric and hydronic heating equipment, and related controls.

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