Dearborn Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Dearborn Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 4.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 95,575 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,092 shares during the quarter. Watsco makes up 1.9% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $47,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 48,984.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 233,643 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $114,924,000 after acquiring an additional 233,167 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the first quarter valued at approximately $90,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 4.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,894 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,473,836,000 after acquiring an additional 146,305 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Watsco by 225.8% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 38,830 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,610,000 after acquiring an additional 26,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter worth $11,740,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of WSO opened at $525.37 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $491.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $481.73. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $373.33 and a 52 week high of $545.49. The stock has a market cap of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.60 and a beta of 0.88.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $4.22 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 16th were issued a $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Watsco from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

Watsco Company 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.