Squarepoint Ops LLC Makes New Investment in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 28,187 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,746,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Watsco by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 239,606 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $87,166,000 after buying an additional 26,003 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 166,172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,992,000 after acquiring an additional 68,442 shares during the last quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 40.1% in the second quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 78,012 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,510,000 after purchasing an additional 22,320 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 76.5% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,949,000 after purchasing an additional 5,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 577,669 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $194,646,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $395.50.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $309.90 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $340.26 and its 200 day moving average is $376.25. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $295.75 and a fifty-two week high of $459.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88 and a beta of 1.05.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.48%.

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.