Capital International Investors Acquires 2,014,233 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 741.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,285,895 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,014,233 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 5.64% of Watsco worth $924,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Watsco by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Watsco by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 742 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Aviva PLC grew its position in Watsco by 2,042.9% during the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 25,693 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,347,000 after acquiring an additional 24,494 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Watsco by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,386 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,994 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WSO shares. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO stock opened at $379.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $521.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $392.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $377.04.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 99.09%.

About Watsco

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.