Argent Trust Co Increases Stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,806 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Watsco were worth $2,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $102,958,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 263.6% in the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 320,008 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $138,234,000 after buying an additional 231,987 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the first quarter worth about $90,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 4.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,894 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,473,836,000 after buying an additional 146,305 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Watsco by 50.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 185,633 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after acquiring an additional 62,593 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $447.67.

Watsco Stock Down 1.1 %

Watsco stock opened at $486.54 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $478.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $459.99. The company has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 3.21. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $338.58 and a fifty-two week high of $520.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.70 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 18.55%. Watsco’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th were paid a $2.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 16th. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.08%.

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.