Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,786 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,574 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $12,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $399.83.

Watsco Trading Up 3.9%

NYSE:WSO opened at $386.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $399.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $383.25. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

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.