Kenneth Robert Lepage Sells 3,429 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Stock

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 3,429 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $667,454.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 14,064 shares in the company, valued at $2,737,557.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $195.66. 108,350 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 145,152. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.37 and a 1-year high of $219.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $200.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.17.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The business had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $541.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Watts Water Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WTS. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,274 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,062 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,665,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $116,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,238,000. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Northcoast Research upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.