Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Sets New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $248.17 and last traded at $243.21, with a volume of 318648 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $245.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $222.00.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.40.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,730. The trade was a 74.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,530,314.40. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,165 shares of company stock worth $3,074,168. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 0.3% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,470,140 shares of the technology company's stock worth $503,711,000 after purchasing an additional 6,765 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 43.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 905,783 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $184,708,000 after buying an additional 273,628 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 398,341 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,983,000 after buying an additional 40,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,669 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.