Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Boosts Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,201 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $6,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Watsco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bayban bought a new position in Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WSO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $397.71.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO opened at $403.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $399.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $389.62. The firm has a market cap of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48 and a beta of 1.02. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.05 and a 1 year high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.54%.

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.