672 Shares in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Purchased by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 672 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $102,958,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 263.6% in the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 320,008 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,234,000 after buying an additional 231,987 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 1st quarter valued at about $90,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,894 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,473,836,000 after acquiring an additional 146,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Watsco by 50.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 185,633 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,188,000 after acquiring an additional 62,593 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:WSO opened at $491.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83 and a beta of 0.88. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $338.58 and a twelve month high of $520.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $478.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $459.31.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.70 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 18.55%. Watsco’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.42 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th were given a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.71.

About Watsco

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.