Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Now Covered by Analysts at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays has initiated coverage on Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) with an "equal weight" rating and set a price target of $287.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.36% from the current price.
• Watts Water Technologies reported $3.09 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.41, with a revenue of $643.70 million which was also above expectations.
• Institutional investors currently hold 95.02% of the company’s stock, indicating strong confidence in the company’s future performance.

Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $287.00 price objective on the technology company's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $253.80.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Watts Water Technologies stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $279.90. The company had a trading volume of 23,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,822. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $269.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.45. Watts Water Technologies has a 1-year low of $177.59 and a 1-year high of $287.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.41. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 18.11%. The company had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $612.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Watts Water Technologies news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total value of $195,682.85. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,194 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $327,693.30. This trade represents a 37.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 78,159 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,938,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 124.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,273 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,950,000 after purchasing an additional 13,460 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,869 shares of the technology company's stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,669 shares of the technology company's stock worth $66,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 36,711.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,690 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,560,000 after purchasing an additional 56,536 shares in the last quarter. 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.