Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Buys 14,013 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 5.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 276,750 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,013 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $111,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Watsco by 10.5% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 536 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 1,918.8% during the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 323 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 237.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,629 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after buying an additional 3,961 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 7,526 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,007,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Running Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 6.1% in the third quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 38,594 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,604,000 after acquiring an additional 2,203 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WSO. UBS Group initiated coverage on Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Watsco from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.14.

Watsco Stock Up 3.7%

WSO stock opened at $421.05 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $535.40. The stock has a market cap of $17.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.89 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $364.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $381.31.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 93.75%.

Watsco 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.