Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 251,529 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 12,896 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $119,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Watsco by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371,535 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $649,957,000 after buying an additional 118,713 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in Watsco by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 27,946 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,958 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Watsco by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,178 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Watsco by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 256 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Watsco

In other news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.21, for a total transaction of $5,589,293.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 12.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $486.25.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $493.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $485.33 and a 200 day moving average of $493.65. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $388.47 and a fifty-two week high of $571.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 17.59%. Analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.51%.

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.