HM Payson & Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 83.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 410 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 48,984.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 233,643 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $114,924,000 after acquiring an additional 233,167 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Watsco by 263.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Watsco during the first quarter worth approximately $90,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $1,473,836,000 after buying an additional 146,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 185,633 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after buying an additional 62,593 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WSO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 cut their target price on Watsco from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Watsco Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE WSO opened at $474.05 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $481.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $475.41. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $359.59 and a one year high of $520.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 3.36. The firm has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 36.63 and a beta of 0.88.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.73 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 6.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.35 EPS. Analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 16th were issued a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.46%.

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.