D.A. Davidson & CO. Increases Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,084 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $4,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Watsco by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,624,159 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,782,651,000 after purchasing an additional 346,470 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Watsco by 2.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,759 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,195,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Watsco by 29.7% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 118,763 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,417,000 after purchasing an additional 27,215 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its position in shares of Watsco by 20.0% in the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 2,721 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Watsco by 12.5% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Watsco from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Northcoast Research started coverage on Watsco in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $491.25.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $554.67 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $373.33 and a one year high of $571.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $504.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $486.93. The stock has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.86 and a beta of 0.88.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.73 by ($0.51). Watsco had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 6.99%. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 16th were paid a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 83.46%.

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.