Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) to Issue $0.43 Quarterly Dividend

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, October 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the technology company on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th.

Watts Water Technologies has increased its dividend by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Watts Water Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 19.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Watts Water Technologies to earn $8.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.2%.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $215.09 on Thursday. Watts Water Technologies has a 1 year low of $175.37 and a 1 year high of $221.19. The firm has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $205.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.55.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $543.60 million during 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 prior year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.25.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total value of $955,377.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,269,278.50. This represents a 22.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert J. Pagano, Jr. sold 20,810 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.20, for a total transaction of $4,415,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 176,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,356,749. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,594 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.