Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Reduces Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Watsco by 2,366.7% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 242.9% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 4,700.0% in the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 1,300.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 112 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on WSO shares. UBS Group began coverage on Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $409.00.

Watsco Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $417.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $533.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $384.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $377.93.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.26). Watsco had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.09%.

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.