Capital International Investors Raises Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 103.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned approximately 0.11% of Watsco worth $1,564,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Havemeyer Place LP acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $820,000. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Watsco by 558.7% during the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in Watsco by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 2,641 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $371.58 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $398.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.36. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $494.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 30.84 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. 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 (DPR) is currently 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on WSO shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Stephens lifted 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $399.83.

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.