Watsco (NYSE:WSO) Hits New 1-Year High at $450.56

Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $450.56 and last traded at $449.36, with a volume of 142526 shares. The stock had previously closed at $413.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $398.00.

Watsco Stock Up 6.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $409.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $398.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 3.36.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 21.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $2.70 per share. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 79.06%.

Institutional Trading of Watsco

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Trail Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Watsco during the first quarter worth approximately $234,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its stake in Watsco by 1.0% during the first quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 35,144 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,286,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 24.8% in the first quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 20,342 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,787,000 after buying an additional 4,041 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 2.5% in the first quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 2,049 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Watsco by 1.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 366,739 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $158,420,000 after purchasing an additional 6,436 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.