Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Sells 1,546 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,845 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,546 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Watsco were worth $10,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WSO. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Watsco by 741.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,285,895 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $924,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014,233 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Watsco by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $500,572,000 after purchasing an additional 16,595 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after purchasing an additional 598,677 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 470,177 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,293,000 after purchasing an additional 113,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 405,480 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $163,936,000 after buying an additional 47,643 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of WSO stock opened at $432.87 on Thursday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $496.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $398.89 and a 200-day moving average of $377.96. The company has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.92 and a beta of 1.12.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens increased their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $399.83.

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.