Wall Street Zen Upgrades Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Watts Water Technologies has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, indicating increased confidence in the stock's performance.
• The company's latest earnings report showed $3.09 earnings per share, exceeding consensus estimates and marking a 7.8% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Despite the positive upgrade, Northcoast Research downgraded Watts Water from a "buy" to a "neutral" rating, reflecting mixed sentiments among analysts.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

WTS has been the topic of several other reports. Northcoast Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $245.50.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of WTS traded up $1.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $262.67. 295,450 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,187. The company has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $177.59 and a fifty-two week high of $269.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm's fifty day moving average is $249.85 and its 200 day moving average is $226.06.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.15 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.11% and a net margin of 13.63%. Watts Water Technologies's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.37%.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 2,754 shares in the company, valued at $674,730. This trade represents a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total value of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Watts Water Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 7,459 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,152 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,487,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,608 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,558,000 after acquiring an additional 8,728 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,410 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,541,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,345 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $680,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. 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.