LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Has $12.47 Million Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC reduced its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,999 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,420 shares during the period. Watsco accounts for about 1.5% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $12,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Watsco by 89.2% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,808 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,286,000 after acquiring an additional 17,820 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Watsco by 47.7% during the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 124,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,452,000 after purchasing an additional 40,326 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Watsco by 577.9% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,957 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,069,000 after purchasing an additional 17,013 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Watsco by 237.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,629 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,392,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $399.83.

Watsco Trading Up 1.6%

WSO stock opened at $421.25 on Wednesday. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.05 and a 1-year high of $496.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $398.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $377.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.96 and a beta of 1.12.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 109.54%.

Watsco 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.