Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Shares Purchased by Atomi Financial Group Inc.

Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 105.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 973 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Watsco by 263.6% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 320,008 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,234,000 after purchasing an additional 231,987 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Watsco in the 1st quarter valued at about $90,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,894 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,473,836,000 after acquiring an additional 146,305 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 185,633 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,188,000 after acquiring an additional 62,593 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in Watsco by 2,109.5% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 33,120 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,309,000 after purchasing an additional 31,621 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO opened at $484.04 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $338.58 and a 52-week high of $520.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $477.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $469.28. The company has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by ($0.21). Watsco had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 7.02%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 16th will be given a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is 82.63%.

Watsco Company 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.