Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 71.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,169 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Watsco by 62.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $238,329,000 after buying an additional 180,951 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Watsco in the first quarter valued at about $54,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 6.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,454,512 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $739,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,977 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the first quarter worth about $41,218,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 5.7% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 814,712 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $414,118,000 after purchasing an additional 43,776 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Watsco from $425.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $447.50.

Watsco Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $378.90 on Tuesday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $350.00 and a 12-month high of $571.41. The company has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.06 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $397.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $438.69.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 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.