Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 5,176 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $214,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 151.4% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 181 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the third quarter worth $74,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $399.83.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $363.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $494.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $399.05 and a 200 day moving average of $381.99.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend 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.