How to buy Waters Corporation stock | 211.1

Waters Corporation is a diagnostics & research business based in the US. Waters Corporation shares (WAT) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Waters Corporation employs 7,000 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$2.3 billion.

How to buy shares in Waters Corporation

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Waters Corporation. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: WAT. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Waters Corporation reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$211.1, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Waters Corporation, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Waters Corporation. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Waters Corporation's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Waters Corporation's share price has had significant negative movement.

Its last market close was USD$211.1, which is 2.44% down on its pre-crash value of USD$216.38 and 36.73% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$154.39.

If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of Waters Corporation shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$717.63 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$933.06.

Waters Corporation share price

Use our graph to track the performance of WAT stocks over time.

Waters Corporation shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-10-20.

Latest market close	USD$211.1
52-week range	USD$154.39 - USD$245.68
50-day moving average	USD$202.6971
200-day moving average	USD$199.249
Wall St. target price	USD$208.92
PE ratio	26.8805
Dividend yield	N/A (0%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$8.071

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Is it a good time to buy Waters Corporation stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Waters Corporation by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Waters Corporation price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $211.1 from 2020-10-16

1 week (2020-11-16)	N/A
1 month (2020-10-27)	-5.74%
3 months (2020-08-27)	-2.16%
6 months (2020-05-23)	N/A

1 year (2019-11-23)	N/A
2 years (2018-11-23)	N/A
3 years (2017-11-23)	N/A
5 years (2015-11-23)	N/A

Is Waters Corporation under- or over-valued?

Valuing Waters Corporation stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Waters Corporation's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Waters Corporation's P/E ratio

Waters Corporation's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 27x. In other words, Waters Corporation shares trade at around 27x recent earnings.

That's comparable to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29).

Waters Corporation's PEG ratio

Waters Corporation's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.7993. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Waters Corporation's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Waters Corporation's EBITDA

Waters Corporation's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$775.1 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Waters Corporation's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Waters Corporation financials

Revenue TTM	USD$2.3 billion
Operating margin TTM	29.11%
Gross profit TTM	USD$1.4 billion
Return on assets TTM	15.15%
Return on equity TTM	282.74%
Profit margin	22.61%
Book value	$1.774
Market capitalisation	USD$13 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Waters Corporation shares

There are currently 2.3 million Waters Corporation shares held short by investors – that's known as Waters Corporation's "short interest". This figure is 11.7% down from 2.6 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Waters Corporation shares can be evaluated.

Waters Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Waters Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Waters Corporation shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Waters Corporation shares traded daily (recently around 395148.69565217). Waters Corporation's SIR currently stands at 5.75. In other words for every 100,000 Waters Corporation shares traded daily on the market, roughly 5750 shares are currently held short.

However Waters Corporation's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Waters Corporation shares, or, against the total number of tradable Waters Corporation shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Waters Corporation's short interest could be expressed as 0.04% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Waters Corporation shares in existence, roughly 40 shares are currently held short) or 0.0419% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Waters Corporation shares, roughly 42 shares are currently held short).

A SIR below 10% would generally be considered to indicate a fairly optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Waters Corporation.

Find out more about how you can short Waters Corporation stock.

Waters Corporation's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Waters Corporation.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Waters Corporation's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 21.53

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Waters Corporation's overall score of 21.53 (as at 10/01/2020) is excellent – landing it in it in the 19th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Waters Corporation is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Waters Corporation's environmental score

Environmental score: 2.48/100

Waters Corporation's environmental score of 2.48 puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Waters Corporation is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Waters Corporation's social score

Social score: 12.17/100

Waters Corporation's social score of 12.17 puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Waters Corporation is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Waters Corporation's governance score

Governance score: 6.88/100

Waters Corporation's governance score puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Waters Corporation is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Waters Corporation was last rated for ESG on: 2020-10-01.

Total ESG score	21.53
Total ESG percentile	18.92
Environmental score	2.48
Environmental score percentile	5
Social score	12.17
Social score percentile	5
Governance score	6.88
Governance score percentile	5

Waters Corporation share dividends

We're not expecting Waters Corporation to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Have Waters Corporation's shares ever split?

Waters Corporation's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 28 August 2000. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Waters Corporation shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Waters Corporation shares which in turn could have impacted Waters Corporation's share price.

Waters Corporation share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Waters Corporation's shares have ranged in value from as little as $154.39 up to $245.68. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Waters Corporation's is 0.9664. This would suggest that Waters Corporation's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Waters Corporation overview

Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments, Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans. It also designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments; and develops and supplies software-based products that interface with its instruments, as well as other manufacturers' instruments. Its MS technology instruments are used in drug discovery and development comprising clinical trial testing, the analysis of proteins in disease processes, nutritional safety analysis, and environmental testing. The company's offers thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments for use in predicting the suitability and stability of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, water, polymers, metals, and viscous liquids for various industrial, consumer good, and healthcare products, as well as for life science research. Its products are used by pharmaceutical, biochemical, industrial, nutritional safety, environmental, academic, and governmental customers working in research and development, quality assurance, and other laboratory applications. Waters Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Waters Corporation is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.562% of Waters Corporation shares are held by insiders and 102.987% by institutions.

• How many people work for Waters Corporation?

  Latest data suggests 7,000 work at Waters Corporation.

• When does the fiscal year end for Waters Corporation?

  Waters Corporation's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Waters Corporation based?

  Waters Corporation's address is: 34 Maple Street, Milford, MA, United States, 01757

• What is Waters Corporation's ISIN number?

  Waters Corporation's international securities identification number is: US9418481035

• What is Waters Corporation's CUSIP number?

  Waters Corporation's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 941848103