Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Bought by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 22,985.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 205,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 204,112 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $62,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 17.5% during the third quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,292,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 38,504 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 3.4% in the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 1,070 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 158,419 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,952,000 after purchasing an additional 17,875 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 target price on Watsco in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Watsco from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $330.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $373.62.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $303.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 1.06. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $277.34 and a 52-week high of $459.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $305.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $365.71.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The construction company reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.10 by ($0.33). Watsco had a net margin of 6.31% and a return on equity of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 11.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th were given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.61%.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc (NYSE: WSO) is a distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment and related products. The company supplies residential and light commercial air-conditioning and heating systems, refrigeration equipment, replacement parts, and other supplies used by contractors and service professionals.

Watsco distributes products from leading HVAC/R manufacturers, including equipment and components such as air conditioners, heat pumps, furnaces, air handlers, thermostats, controls, motors and indoor air-quality products.