Flputnam Investment Management Co. Acquires New Shares in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management acquired 17,699 Watsco shares worth approximately $7.4 million, while institutional ownership reached 89.71% after several other funds also built positions.
• Watsco’s latest quarter fell short of expectations, with EPS of $4.00 versus the $4.41 consensus and revenue of $2.10 billion versus $2.14 billion, although revenue increased 2.1% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $3.30 per share, equivalent to a 4.2% annualized yield; analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $395.50 target price.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,699 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $7,376,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watsco in the second quarter worth about $153,000. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,604,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $97,937,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Watsco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,563,000. Finally, Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,842 shares of the construction company's stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WSO opened at $312.65 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $12.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12 and a beta of 1.05. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $300.66 and a 1-year high of $459.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $369.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $388.24.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco's dividend payout ratio is presently 114.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $395.50.

Watsco Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WSO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source