Capital World Investors Cuts Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Capital World Investors decreased its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 434,018 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 200,000 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Watsco were worth $146,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Watsco by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the third quarter valued at $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Finally, Stephens boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $399.83.

Watsco Stock Up 0.1%

WSO stock opened at $371.81 on Tuesday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $494.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $399.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $382.89.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. Watsco’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s dividend 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.