Jupiter Topco LLC Acquires New Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,237 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $933,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Watsco by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Watsco by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,559,965 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $525,634,000 after buying an additional 46,799 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $500,572,000 after buying an additional 16,595 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $214,373,000 after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. raised its position in Watsco by 0.8% in the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 582,169 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $211,787,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WSO shares. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 target price on Watsco in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $395.50.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $314.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28 and a beta of 1.05. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $295.75 and a 12 month high of $459.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $346.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $378.73.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.41 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.53%.Watsco’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.52 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.48%.

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.