Watts Water Technologies (WTS) Competitors

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) and Xylem (NYSE:XYL) are both industrial machinery companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Do analysts rate WTS or XYL?

Watts Water Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $231.20, suggesting a potential downside of 9.37%. Xylem has a consensus price target of $143.71, suggesting a potential upside of 8.64%. Given Xylem's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Xylem is more favorable than Watts Water Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Watts Water Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Xylem	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of WTS or XYL?

95.0% of Watts Water Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.0% of Xylem shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Watts Water Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Xylem shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is WTS or XYL a better dividend stock?

Watts Water Technologies pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Xylem pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Watts Water Technologies pays out 23.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Xylem pays out 43.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Watts Water Technologies has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Xylem has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Does the media prefer WTS or XYL?

In the previous week, Xylem had 6 more articles in the media than Watts Water Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Xylem and 8 mentions for Watts Water Technologies. Xylem's average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat Watts Water Technologies' score of 0.86 indicating that Xylem is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Watts Water Technologies	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Xylem	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WTS or XYL more profitable?

Watts Water Technologies has a net margin of 13.07% compared to Xylem's net margin of 10.54%. Watts Water Technologies' return on equity of 17.59% beat Xylem's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Watts Water Technologies	13.07%	17.59%	12.34%
Xylem	10.54%	10.12%	6.62%

Which has better earnings and valuation, WTS or XYL?

Xylem has higher revenue and earnings than Watts Water Technologies. Watts Water Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Xylem, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Watts Water Technologies	$2.25B	3.78	$291.20M	$8.73	29.22
Xylem	$8.56B	3.76	$890M	$3.72	35.56

Which has more risk & volatility, WTS or XYL?

Watts Water Technologies has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xylem has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Watts Water Technologies and Xylem tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.