Paloma Partners Management Co Raises Stake in Watsco, Inc. (WSO)

Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 3.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,586 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co’s holdings in Watsco were worth $370,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Watsco by 5,677.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,656,561 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $380,367,000 after buying an additional 2,610,583 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 26.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,454,099 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $351,379,000 after buying an additional 517,615 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 5.4% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 924,472 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $132,366,000 after buying an additional 47,626 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 7.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 835,734 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,661,000 after buying an additional 60,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Watsco by 12.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 748,542 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $107,170,000 after buying an additional 80,199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE WSO) opened at 151.96 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $150.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.90. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.60 and a 52-week high of $159.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 29.51 and a beta of 0.84.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The construction company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.13. Watsco had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $872.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $877.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post $5.69 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, July 17th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 13th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.66%.

WSO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Watsco from $152.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Seaport Global Securities upgraded Watsco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $145.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. BidaskClub upgraded Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Watsco in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.14.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc is a distributor of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies (HVAC/R) in the HVAC/R distribution industry in North America. As of December 31, 2016, the Company sold a range of non-equipment products, representing more than 300,000 stock keeping units, including parts, ductwork, air movement products, insulation, tools, installation supplies, thermostats and air quality products.

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