Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

by · The Cerbat Gem

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS – Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

WTS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.25.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WTS

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of WTS stock opened at $279.80 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $275.52 and a 200 day moving average of $269.78. Watts Water Technologies has a 1 year low of $177.59 and a 1 year high of $287.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.23.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.21. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 13.79%.The business had revenue of $611.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 6,994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.65, for a total transaction of $1,948,878.10. Following the transaction, the insider owned 23,006 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,621.90. This trade represents a 23.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Virginia A. Halloran sold 605 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.78, for a total transaction of $167,451.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,412 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,173.36. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 15,605 shares of company stock worth $4,296,387 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Watts Water Technologies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $80,386,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,400,000. Cartenna Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,478,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 148.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 277,669 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,276,000 after acquiring an additional 165,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2,366.7% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 153,282 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,691,000 after purchasing an additional 147,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Watts Water Technologies, Inc is a global manufacturer and distributor of flow control products and solutions designed to ensure the safe, efficient delivery and use of water. Founded in 1874 and headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts, the company has built a reputation for engineering innovation in residential, commercial and industrial plumbing, heating, cooling and water treatment systems. Watts operates through a comprehensive portfolio of brands and product lines that address application-specific requirements in water safety, pressure regulation, flow control and filtration.

The company’s product offerings span backflow preventers, pressure reducing valves, relief valves and steam traps, as well as hydronic balancing and temperature control devices for heating systems.

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