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

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $231.20.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Northcoast Research cut Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on Watts Water Technologies and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,754 shares in the company, valued at $674,730. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Watts Water Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,375 shares of the technology company's stock worth $500,804,000 after buying an additional 386,333 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $60,887,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 43.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 905,783 shares of the technology company's stock worth $184,708,000 after buying an additional 273,628 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter worth $49,199,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 422,026 shares of the technology company's stock worth $85,798,000 after buying an additional 194,033 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE WTS traded down $4.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $248.52. The company had a trading volume of 139,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,678. Watts Water Technologies has a 12-month low of $177.59 and a 12-month high of $260.93. The stock has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.12. The business's 50-day moving average is $243.15 and its 200 day moving average is $219.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 13.07%. The company had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. Watts Water Technologies's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is presently 23.83%.

Watts Water Technologies Company Profile

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.