Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Short Interest Update

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 727,600 shares, a drop of 12.1% from the January 31st total of 828,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 168,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Watts Water Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WTS. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 366 shares of the technology company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 660.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 555 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 45.2% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of WTS stock traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $214.30. 191,405 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 171,262. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.21. The firm has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. 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 fifty-two week low of $175.37 and a fifty-two week high of $232.60.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. Equities analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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 note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $220.00.

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.