Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Price Target Increased to $209.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) had its target price boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $206.00 to $209.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

Separately, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $191.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $191.20.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $198.11 on Wednesday. Watts Water Technologies has a one year low of $156.29 and a one year high of $219.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $204.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.67. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.19. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 12.75%. The company had revenue of $547.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. Watts Water Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.91, for a total transaction of $65,112.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,400.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.91, for a total transaction of $65,112.39. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,392 shares in the company, valued at $473,400.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.50, for a total value of $498,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,564 shares in the company, valued at $2,706,018. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,113 shares of company stock valued at $1,023,106 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Watts Water Technologies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,188,071 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $550,962,000 after purchasing an additional 29,113 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,128,516 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $358,272,000 after buying an additional 36,810 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 913,288 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $167,798,000 after purchasing an additional 4,499 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 691,779 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $96,565,000 after purchasing an additional 139,042 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 691,138 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $101,065,000 after buying an additional 82,366 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Watts Water Technologies

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.