Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) CFO Sells $955,377.90 in Stock

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,269,278.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock traded up $1.85 on Friday, reaching $209.09. The stock had a trading volume of 9,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,424. The business’s 50 day moving average is $200.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.37 and a 1 year high of $219.52. The company has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.90.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.72 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 7.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,062 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,665,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 23,952 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,091,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $442,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $940,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 35,918 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,634,000 after purchasing an additional 6,255 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.25.

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.