Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Takes $1.54 Million Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,556 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 10,552 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,555,000 after purchasing an additional 4,356 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Watsco by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 135,131 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,532,000 after acquiring an additional 103,589 shares in the last quarter. Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH boosted its stake in Watsco by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH now owns 1,527 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Watsco during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Price Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $383.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86 and a beta of 1.05. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $323.05 and a one year high of $494.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $401.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $384.59.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson set a $385.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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 price objective 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $397.71.

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.