Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Increases Position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,977 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,133 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $2,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Watsco by 4.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,894 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,473,836,000 after purchasing an additional 146,305 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.1% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 792,011 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $342,125,000 after purchasing an additional 16,487 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 1.7% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 566,250 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $244,603,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 366,739 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $158,420,000 after purchasing an additional 6,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Watsco by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 340,023 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $145,690,000 after buying an additional 15,552 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $475.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.57 and a beta of 0.88. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $337.58 and a 52-week high of $520.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $480.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $446.38.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by ($0.21). Watsco had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 7.02%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 16th were paid a $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.71.

Watsco 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.