StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WTS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $144.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, January 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $147.50.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $160.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.01. Watts Water Technologies has a 52-week low of $116.31 and a 52-week high of $181.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.21.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The technology company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $501.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $489.21 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Watts Water Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WTS. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 12.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 41.6% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 881 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 14.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 79,951 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,160,000 after acquiring an additional 10,288 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter worth $2,395,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter valued at $14,626,000. 74.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Watts Water Technologies

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Watts Water Technologies, Inc engages in the manufacture and provision of products for water conservation, safety, and flow control. It operates through the following geographic segments: Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Its services include plumbing and flow control solutions, water quality and conditioning, water reuse and drainage, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and municipal waterworks.