Flputnam Investment Management Co. Invests $207,000 in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 483 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 75 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $396.00.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $401.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $408.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $398.05. The stock has a market cap of $15.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.42 and a beta of 0.90. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $314.87 and a twelve month high of $447.49.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.44). Watsco had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 21.36%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.19 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $2.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.06%.

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.