Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Purchased by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 290,327 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,798 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $147,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $95,000. Natixis purchased a new position in Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $125,000. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Watsco by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,210 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $390,000. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its position in Watsco by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 8,955 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,244,000 after buying an additional 2,681 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Watsco from $455.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $505.00 price target on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Watsco from $445.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $484.17.

Watsco Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $414.7760 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.81 and a beta of 0.95. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $397.73 and a 52 week high of $571.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $444.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $469.35.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.84 by ($0.32). The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 16.96%. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 16th were given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 92.02%.

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.