Regents Gate Capital LLP Acquires Shares of 6,430 Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,430 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,167,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WSO. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. 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 research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $399.83.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $384.07 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $400.94 and a 200-day moving average of $383.95. The company has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s payout ratio is 109.54%.

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.