Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Raises Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its position in Watsco, Inc. by 5.2% during Q2, bringing its total holdings to 18,874 shares, valued at approximately $8.3 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $3.00 per share, yielding 2.9%, which will be paid on October 31st to stockholders of record as of October 16th.
• Analysts have a consensus Hold rating on Watsco with an average price target of $480, while recent earnings reports indicated a miss in estimates with a net margin of 7.08%.

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,874 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc's holdings in Watsco were worth $8,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Manitou Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 115.4% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $505.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $480.00.

Watsco Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of WSO opened at $415.70 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $410.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $448.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 0.94. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $378.35 and a 1-year high of $571.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.84 by ($0.32). Watsco had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 16.96%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.49 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. Watsco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.02%.

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.

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