Dakota Wealth Management Grows Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Dakota Wealth Management increased its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 43.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,298 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Watsco were worth $3,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,325,958 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,013,220,000 after purchasing an additional 14,122 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Watsco by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,670,785 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $531,577,000 after buying an additional 32,734 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Watsco by 105,561.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,494,050 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $372,616,000 after buying an additional 1,492,636 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Watsco by 0.7% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Watsco by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,127,943 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $343,617,000 after acquiring an additional 3,540 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Watsco from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $396.00.

Watsco Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $412.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $16.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $408.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $397.73. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $310.20 and a 1 year high of $447.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.44). Watsco had a return on equity of 21.36% and a net margin of 7.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.17 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.06%.

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.