First Bank & Trust Reduces Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

First Bank & Trust reduced its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,223 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 118 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Watsco were worth $467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. MJP Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the second quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Thrive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the second quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 13.8% in the second quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 56.1% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 75,958 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,976,000 after acquiring an additional 27,283 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.8% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 38,457 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the period. 89.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSO has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Watsco from $305.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Watsco in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Watsco from $323.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Mizuho assumed coverage on Watsco in a report on Monday, July 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.67.

Watsco Trading Up 1.1 %

WSO traded up $4.00 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $356.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 80,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,017. The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $13.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $360.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $342.26. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $228.61 and a 52-week high of $383.83.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The construction company reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.87 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 22.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 17th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 14th. Watsco’s payout ratio is 66.08%.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies. 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.