Man Group plc Buys Shares of 2,775 Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Man Group plc bought a new position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,775 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,156,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Watsco by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 239,606 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $87,166,000 after buying an additional 26,003 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Watsco by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 166,172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,992,000 after acquiring an additional 68,442 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. boosted its stake in Watsco by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 577,669 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $194,646,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its stake in Watsco by 40.1% in the second quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 78,012 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,510,000 after acquiring an additional 22,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter worth $3,857,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $309.26 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $350.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $379.91. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $295.75 and a 1-year high of $459.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 1.05.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.41 by ($0.41). Watsco had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.53%.The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.52 EPS. Watsco’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, August 17th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price target on Watsco in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $395.50.

Watsco Profile

Watsco, Inc is the largest distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment, parts and supplies in the United States. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company operates a network of more than 600 branches across the continental U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Watsco serves residential and commercial contractors by providing essential components for climate control systems, including air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, coils, refrigerants, controls and electrical and piping supplies.

Founded in 1947, Watsco has grown from a single regional distributor into an industry leader through a combination of organic expansion, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, Goodman and Lennox.