Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Shares Purchased by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 225.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,830 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,911 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.10% of Watsco worth $16,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 100.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 58 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. First PREMIER Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the first quarter valued at $31,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WSO. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.71.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO traded down $3.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $467.39. The stock had a trading volume of 235,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,154. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 3.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95 and a beta of 0.88. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $337.58 and a twelve month high of $520.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $481.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $441.91.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.42 earnings per share. Watsco’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th were given a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 16th. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 83.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Alexander Macdonald sold 5,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.41, for a total transaction of $2,487,830.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director John Alexander Macdonald sold 5,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.41, for a total transaction of $2,487,830.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.85, for a total transaction of $366,759.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $838,714.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.86% of the company’s stock.

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.