Insider Selling: Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) CFO Sells $324,370.80 in Stock

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) CFO Shashank Patel sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.10, for a total value of $324,370.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,204 shares in the company, valued at $4,345,880.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of WTS stock opened at $208.50 on Monday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.85 and a twelve month high of $219.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $207.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.95.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The technology company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $570.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.20 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 12.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Watts Water Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. Congress Asset Management Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $125,904,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $61,513,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE bought a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $13,284,000. Natixis raised its position in Watts Water Technologies by 20,322.5% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 61,676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,109,000 after purchasing an additional 61,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 1,826.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 59,310 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,606,000 after buying an additional 56,231 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $206.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $212.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $199.50.

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.