Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Boosts Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,201 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 1,295 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $6,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WSO. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 45,756 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,417,000 after purchasing an additional 12,190 shares in the last quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. raised its holdings in Watsco by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 55,692 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $18,765,000 after purchasing an additional 16,322 shares in the last quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Watsco by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC now owns 26,721 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position 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 buying an additional 2,014,233 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Watsco by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 470,177 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $159,293,000 after buying an additional 113,333 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 target price on the stock. Stephens increased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $397.71.

Watsco Stock Down 0.3%

WSO stock opened at $403.43 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $494.94. The firm has a market cap of $16.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.48 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $399.01 and a 200 day moving average of $389.62.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s 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.