Dearborn Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Dearborn Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,731 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,204 shares during the quarter. Watsco accounts for approximately 1.6% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $31,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Watsco Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of WSO opened at $371.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $398.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $382.36. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $494.94. The stock has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 30.84 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.