D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,848 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $4,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $266,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $238,329,000 after acquiring an additional 180,951 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,588,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 109.4% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 222 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 16,218 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,244,000 after buying an additional 3,045 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Watsco from $425.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $447.50.

Watsco Trading Up 0.8%

WSO stock opened at $362.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76 and a beta of 0.94. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.00 and a 12-month high of $571.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $393.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $436.22.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.84 by ($0.32). The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 16.96%. The business’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 92.02%.

Watsco Profile

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.