The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys Shares of 19,951 Watsco, Inc. $WSO

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 19,951 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,314,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $250,000. Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,592,000. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new stake in Watsco during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,877,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Watsco in the second quarter valued at approximately $815,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WSO. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $395.50.

Watsco Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $310.89 on Monday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $295.75 and a 52-week high of $459.00. The stock has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $355.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $382.28.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by ($0.41). Watsco had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. Watsco’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 114.48%.

Watsco Profile

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.