Freemont Management S.A. Acquires New Position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Freemont Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,000 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,476,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Watsco in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Watsco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Watsco by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 94 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Watsco Price Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $543.06 on Thursday. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $373.33 and a one year high of $545.49. The company has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a PE ratio of 41.97 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $489.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $481.42.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.73 by ($0.51). The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 6.99%. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.35 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.2 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 16th were issued a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 16th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 83.46%.

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.