Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from five brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of $234.20.
• Insider trades show significant activity, with CFO Shashank Patel selling 8,000 shares and decreasing his ownership by 74.39%, while Monica Barry sold 768 shares and reduced her ownership by 10.97%.
• The company recently posted earnings of $2.37 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, although reported revenue was down 2.3% year-over-year.

Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $234.20.

WTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Northcoast Research cut Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Watts Water Technologies news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Watts Water Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 156.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 131 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake 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 valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew 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 buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock traded down $2.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $260.75. 528,991 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 201,662. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $249.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.15. The stock has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $177.59 and a fifty-two week high of $269.10.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $643.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $612.15 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 17.59%. Watts Water Technologies's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.