TD Asset Management Inc Grows Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,592 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,197 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Watsco were worth $3,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 454 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Watsco by 0.7% during the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,700 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Watsco by 6.0% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 601 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC raised its position in Watsco by 1.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Applied Capital LLC FL lifted its position in Watsco by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 6,993 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price for the company. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Down 0.9%

WSO opened at $407.30 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $387.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $377.81. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $533.07. The firm has a market cap of $16.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.09%.

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.