Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Acquires New Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 600 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Watsco in the first quarter worth $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the second quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 115.4% during the 1st 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. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Watsco from $425.00 to $390.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $435.00.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $351.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $382.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.43. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $344.52 and a fifty-two week high of $571.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter. Analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 93.75%.

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.