Corton Capital Inc. Takes $222,000 Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 503 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 115.4% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE WSO opened at $361.17 on Tuesday. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $350.00 and a 1-year high of $571.41. The company has a market capitalization of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $386.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $429.06.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.60 by ($0.62). Watsco had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.04%.The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 93.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $440.83.

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.