Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Research Coverage Started at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $240.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Northcoast Research raised Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.50.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.1 %

Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $203.42 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $208.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.51. Watts Water Technologies has a 1-year low of $175.37 and a 1-year high of $222.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total value of $955,377.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. The trade was a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 3,429 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $667,454.85. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 14,064 shares in the company, valued at $2,737,557.60. The trade was a 19.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,974 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,594. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,050,215 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $375,948,000 after purchasing an additional 29,473 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 977,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $202,425,000 after buying an additional 8,314 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 741,743 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $153,708,000 after buying an additional 30,688 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 715,674 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $131,233,000 after buying an additional 15,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 587,538 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,738,000 after acquiring an additional 6,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

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.