Eagle Bay Advisors LLC Increases Position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO – Get Rating) by 73.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $42,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. IMA Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 136.6% during the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 265 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Watsco from $323.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on Watsco from $300.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Watsco from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Watsco in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.67.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO stock opened at $302.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $292.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 0.89. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.68 and a 1 year high of $343.85.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The construction company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 25.17% and a net margin of 8.26%. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 17th were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 13th. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.20. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.60%.

Watsco Profile

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Watsco, Inc engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies. Its products include residential central air conditioners, gas, electric & oil furnaces, commercial air conditioning and heating equipment, and other specialized equipment and parts, including replacement compressors, evaporator coils, motors and other component parts and supplies, including thermostats, insulation material, refrigerants, ductwork, grills, registers, sheet metal, tools, copper tubing, concrete pads, tape, adhesives, and other ancillary supplies.