Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Invests $239,000 in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 957 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Utah Retirement Systems increased its position in shares of Watsco by 0.7% during the third quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 5,853 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Watsco by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 1,028 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,654 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 2,025 shares of the construction company's stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 2.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,870 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.73% of the company's stock.

WSO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Watsco from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Watsco from $331.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Watsco from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Watsco from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Watsco in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $354.14.

Watsco stock opened at $340.76 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $326.96 and a 200-day moving average of $297.52. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.68 and a twelve month high of $356.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21 and a beta of 0.91.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The construction company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.58. Watsco had a net margin of 8.19% and a return on equity of 24.40%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.90 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Monday, April 17th were paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 14th. Watsco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.89%.

Watsco, Inc engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies. Its products include residential central air conditioners, gas, electric & oil furnaces, commercial air conditioning and heating equipment, and other specialized equipment and parts, including replacement compressors, evaporator coils, motors and other component parts and supplies, including thermostats, insulation material, refrigerants, ductwork, grills, registers, sheet metal, tools, copper tubing, concrete pads, tape, adhesives, and other ancillary supplies.

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