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

Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $222.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on WTS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Northcoast Research cut Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $238.71 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $211.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.49. Watts Water Technologies has a 52-week low of $175.37 and a 52-week high of $248.17.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.83%.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 2,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $674,730. This trade represents a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,165 shares of company stock valued at $3,074,168. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Watts Water Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company's stock.

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.

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