Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys Shares of 9,212 Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 9,212 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,267,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 185,633 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after purchasing an additional 62,593 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Watsco by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 255,062 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $109,287,000 after acquiring an additional 28,047 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank lifted its stake in Watsco by 878.1% during the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 2,416 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Watsco by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 310,787 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $133,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Watsco in the 1st quarter valued at about $822,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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 increased their price target on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $469.80.

Watsco Trading Down 0.9 %

WSO opened at $495.98 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $338.58 and a one year high of $520.41. The company has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.15 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 3.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $478.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.56.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 16th were paid 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 yield of 2.18%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.08%.

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.