Cynosure Group LLC Has $887,000 Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Cynosure Group LLC increased its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 223.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,632 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 103.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356,998 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Watsco by 60,779.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,056,000 after buying an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,853,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 12,054.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,975,000 after buying an additional 171,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 120.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 305,280 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $102,864,000 after buying an additional 167,080 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Up 0.9%

WSO opened at $383.93 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $401.30 and a 200 day moving average of $384.59. The company has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.86 and a beta of 1.05. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $494.94.

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

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s payout ratio is 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WSO. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $385.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $397.71.

About Watsco

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.