Vontobel Holding Ltd. Invests $434,000 in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,014 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 75 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 35.0% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 108 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Watsco from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $398.00.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $413.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $409.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $398.83. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $315.17 and a 1-year high of $447.49. The firm has a market cap of $16.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.36, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.44). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 21.36%. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.06%.

Watsco 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.