Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 2,513 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 210,718 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,513 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $71,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors grew its position in Watsco by 741.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,285,895 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $924,187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014,233 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Watsco by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $500,572,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Watsco by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $214,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Watsco by 60,779.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after acquiring an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. grew its position in Watsco by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 577,669 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $194,646,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $367.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $399.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $381.73. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $494.94.

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

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a $3.30 dividend. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens increased their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. 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.com, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.