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

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 7.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 258,285 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 19,751 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.64% of Watsco worth $104,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Watsco by 2.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,485,996 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $656,036,000 after purchasing an additional 31,484 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 389,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $171,836,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 11.2% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 356,844 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,748,000 after buying an additional 36,010 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 106.4% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,801,000 after buying an additional 152,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Watsco by 5.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 276,750 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $111,890,000 after acquiring an additional 14,013 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $417.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.47 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $533.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $384.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $377.93.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 99.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.00.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc is the largest distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment, parts and supplies in the United States. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company operates a network of more than 600 branches across the continental U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Watsco serves residential and commercial contractors by providing essential components for climate control systems, including air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, coils, refrigerants, controls and electrical and piping supplies.

Founded in 1947, Watsco has grown from a single regional distributor into an industry leader through a combination of organic expansion, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, Goodman and Lennox.