WTS vs. FELE, PEGA, WWD, DCI, DOV, GGG, ITT, ITW, PH, and PNR
Should you be buying Watts Water Technologies stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Watts Water Technologies include Franklin Electric (FELE), Pegasystems (PEGA), Woodward (WWD), Donaldson (DCI), Dover (DOV), Graco (GGG), ITT (ITT), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Parker-Hannifin (PH), and Pentair (PNR).
Watts Water Technologies vs. Its Competitors
Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) and Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) are related mid-cap companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, media sentiment, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.
Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Watts Water Technologies pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Franklin Electric pays out 27.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Watts Water Technologies pays out 22.4% 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. Franklin Electric has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years and Watts Water Technologies has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Franklin Electric is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Watts Water Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Franklin Electric. Franklin Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Watts Water Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Watts Water Technologies has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Franklin Electric currently has a consensus price target of $107.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.99%. Watts Water Technologies has a consensus price target of $253.80, indicating a potential downside of 9.47%. Given Franklin Electric's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Franklin Electric is more favorable than Watts Water Technologies.
Watts Water Technologies has a net margin of 13.63% compared to Franklin Electric's net margin of 8.71%. Watts Water Technologies' return on equity of 18.11% beat Franklin Electric's return on equity.
80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.0% of Watts Water Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Franklin Electric shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Watts Water Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
In the previous week, Watts Water Technologies had 2 more articles in the media than Franklin Electric. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Watts Water Technologies and 4 mentions for Franklin Electric. Franklin Electric's average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat Watts Water Technologies' score of 0.84 indicating that Franklin Electric is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Summary
Watts Water Technologies beats Franklin Electric on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding WTS and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Watts Water Technologies Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:WTS) was last updated on 10/9/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
