Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,453 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $7,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 75 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WSO shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $404.25.

Watsco Stock Performance

Watsco stock opened at $467.96 on Wednesday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $315.17 and a 52 week high of $480.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.00 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $422.92 and a 200-day moving average of $403.91.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.08%.

Watsco Company Profile

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.