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

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 3rd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the technology company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%.

Watts Water Technologies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 17.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Watts Water Technologies has a payout ratio of 18.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Watts Water Technologies to earn $8.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.2%.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of WTS stock traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $205.61. The company had a trading volume of 450,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,988. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.81. Watts Water Technologies has a 52-week low of $175.37 and a 52-week high of $222.70. The stock has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on WTS shares. Northcoast Research upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total transaction of $554,561.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,437,133.04. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total value of $955,377.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. This represents a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,545 shares of company stock valued at $6,257,140 in the last three months. 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.