Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WTS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Monday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $271.40.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $279.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $274.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.43. Watts Water Technologies has a twelve month low of $177.59 and a twelve month high of $287.89.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $611.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.20 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 13.79%.Watts Water Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 6,814 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.32, for a total value of $1,855,588.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,084,800. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 15,000 shares of company stock worth $4,128,936 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Watts Water Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 156.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

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.