Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 248,469 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 9,242 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $106,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 0.5% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,655,946 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $625,484,000 after acquiring an additional 7,723 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,310,201 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $476,973,000 after acquiring an additional 9,201 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Watsco by 0.7% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 770,476 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $291,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,997 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Watsco by 2.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 648,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $245,013,000 after acquiring an additional 16,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 1.2% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 545,750 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $206,141,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $443.21 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $315.17 and a 1 year high of $451.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $412.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $399.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09 and a beta of 0.90.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.09). Watsco had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 7.03%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.83 earnings per share. Watsco’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $2.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WSO. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Watsco from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $404.25.

Watsco 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.