Praxis Investment Management Inc. Purchases 330 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Praxis Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 35.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,270 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WSO. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Watsco during the second quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 115.4% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in Watsco during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in Watsco during the first quarter worth $45,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho cut 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. UBS Group cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Watsco from $425.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $447.50.

Watsco Trading Up 0.6%

WSO opened at $371.41 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $398.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $440.31. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $350.00 and a 1-year high of $571.41. The company has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48 and a beta of 0.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.84 by ($0.32). Watsco had a return on equity of 16.96% and a net margin of 7.08%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio 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.