Bridges Investment Management Inc. Invests $874,000 in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,887 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Shaker Investments LLC OH boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 7,564 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Watsco by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 293 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Watsco by 100.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 58 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 52.6% in the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 87 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.9% during the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,603 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WSO. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $447.67.

Watsco Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $489.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $478.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $460.46. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $338.58 and a 12-month high of $520.41. The company has a market capitalization of $19.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.66 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). Watsco had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 7.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th were paid a $2.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 16th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.