Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.43

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, Zacks reports. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36.

Watts Water Technologies has raised its dividend by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Watts Water Technologies has a 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTS traded down $6.75 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $205.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 97,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 127,738. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.61. Watts Water Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $156.85 and a fifty-two week high of $219.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $199.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.95.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.22. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 12.75%. The business had revenue of $570.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $206.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.91, for a total value of $65,112.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,392 shares in the company, valued at $473,400.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.91, for a total transaction of $65,112.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,400.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 764 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total value of $152,036.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,832,964. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,113 shares of company stock worth $1,023,106 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.