The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Stock Price

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) had its price objective hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $197.00 to $217.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.00.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $220.91 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. Watts Water Technologies has a 1-year low of $175.37 and a 1-year high of $232.60.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. As a group, analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Watts Water Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 2,140 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 366 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 61,816 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,542,000 after buying an additional 14,477 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,152 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,487,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the period. 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.