Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.43 Per Share

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the technology company on Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36.

Watts Water Technologies has increased its dividend by an average of 14.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Watts Water Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 15.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Watts Water Technologies to earn $9.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.7%.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of WTS traded down $6.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $205.49. The company had a trading volume of 97,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 127,738. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.70. Watts Water Technologies has a 1-year low of $156.85 and a 1-year high of $219.52.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.22. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.75% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The company had revenue of $570.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.50, for a total value of $498,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,564 shares in the company, valued at $2,706,018. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,500 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.50, for a total value of $498,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,706,018. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virginia A. Halloran sold 1,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.11, for a total value of $307,207.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,865.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,113 shares of company stock valued at $1,023,106 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $206.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $191.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $195.25.

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.