1,312 Shares in Watsco, Inc. $WSO Acquired by Unified Investment Management

Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,312 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 710 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 7,814 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,633,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Watsco by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 783 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Watsco by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 695 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WSO shares. Stephens raised their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson started coverage on Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $397.71.

Watsco Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:WSO traded down $7.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $391.94. 46,541 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 428,057. The company’s 50 day moving average is $398.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $390.34. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $494.94. The company has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.54 and a beta of 1.02.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.54%.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc is the largest distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment, parts and supplies in the United States. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company operates a network of more than 600 branches across the continental U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Watsco serves residential and commercial contractors by providing essential components for climate control systems, including air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, coils, refrigerants, controls and electrical and piping supplies.

Founded in 1947, Watsco has grown from a single regional distributor into an industry leader through a combination of organic expansion, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, Goodman and Lennox.