Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Northcoast Research

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Northcoast Research from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WTS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.00.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $244.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.59. Watts Water Technologies has a 52-week low of $175.37 and a 52-week high of $248.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $208.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The firm had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,730. This represents a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $925,700.41. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,204,038.57. The trade was a 29.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,165 shares of company stock valued at $3,074,168 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,950 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,410 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,541,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Company Profile

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.