Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Has $6 Million Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,793 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,860 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $5,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after buying an additional 598,677 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $110,853,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 12,054.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,975,000 after purchasing an additional 171,654 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 106.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,662 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $386.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.71 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $399.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $383.25. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.