Watsco, Inc. $WSO Position Cut by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,516 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,382 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $3,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Watsco by 741.4% in 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 last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Watsco by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $500,572,000 after buying an additional 16,595 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Watsco by 60,779.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,056,000 after buying an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Watsco by 31.8% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Watsco by 13.3% in the third quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 405,480 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $163,936,000 after buying an additional 47,643 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $367.91 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $494.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $399.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $381.73. The stock has a market cap of $14.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 1.12.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens raised their target price on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.