Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $1.69 Million Position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 3.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,650 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Watsco were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. First PREMIER Bank acquired a new stake in Watsco in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in Watsco by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 58 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Watsco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Watsco by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in Watsco by 52.6% in the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 87 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WSO. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $469.80.

Watsco Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:WSO opened at $496.57 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $338.58 and a 12-month high of $520.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $478.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $462.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.20 and a beta of 0.88.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.70 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 7.02%. Watsco’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th were paid a $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 83.08%.

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.