Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 1,892 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 53.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,620 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,892 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Watsco were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WSO. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after buying an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,559,965 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $525,634,000 after buying an additional 46,799 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $500,572,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $214,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $202,056,000 after acquiring an additional 598,677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Up 2.5%

NYSE WSO opened at $393.45 on Tuesday. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $494.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $392.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $391.68. The firm has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65 and a beta of 1.02.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WSO. Stephens raised their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $402.71.

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.