Watsco, Inc. $WSO Stock Position Cut by K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 88.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 910 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 7,150 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Watsco were worth $374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in Watsco by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 454 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 601 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Capital LLC FL boosted its holdings in Watsco by 0.5% during the third quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 6,993 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,827,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Watsco in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research lowered Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO opened at $410.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.94 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $383.35 and a 200-day moving average of $378.60. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $533.07.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 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.