Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) to Issue Dividend Increase - $0.52 Per Share

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 5th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of 0.52 per share by the technology company on Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a 20.9% increase from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43.

Watts Water Technologies has raised its dividend by an average of 17.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Watts Water Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 17.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Watts Water Technologies to earn $9.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.6%.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE WTS traded up $1.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $236.09. The stock had a trading volume of 297,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 171,712. The company has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 27.17, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08. Watts Water Technologies has a twelve month low of $175.37 and a twelve month high of $237.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $205.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.71.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The firm had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus raised Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.00.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,204,038.57. This represents a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% 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.