Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Acquires 948 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Watsco, Inc. by 3.9%, acquiring an additional 948 shares, which brings its total ownership to approximately 24,952 shares valued at $11 million.
• Recent analyst reports have led to price target reductions for Watsco, with JPMorgan lowering its target from $425.00 to $400.00 and a consensus rating of "Hold" among analysts.
• Watsco declared a quarterly dividend of $3.00 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 3.2%, to be paid out on October 31st for investors of record on October 16th.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,952 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. owned about 0.06% of Watsco worth $11,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Watsco in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Watsco in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in Watsco by 115.4% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Watsco in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in Watsco in the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Watsco from $425.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $447.50.

Watsco Stock Up 0.6%

WSO opened at $371.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48 and a beta of 0.94. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $350.00 and a twelve month high of $571.41. The company's 50-day moving average price is $398.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $440.31.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 16.96%. The firm's revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. Watsco's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.02%.

Watsco Company 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.

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