King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 2,350 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 1.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 132,682 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,350 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Watsco were worth $53,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 2,366.7% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Watsco by 242.9% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Watsco during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Watsco in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 4,700.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WSO shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $412.00.

Watsco Stock Down 0.7%

Watsco stock opened at $420.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.68 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $375.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $378.71. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $533.07.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.26). Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.75%.

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.