AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Grows Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,225 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,660 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Watsco were worth $51,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Watsco during the first quarter valued at $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the second quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 115.4% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $472.50.

Watsco Price Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $366.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $401.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $442.81. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $361.57 and a 1-year high of $571.41.

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

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.