Blair William & Co. IL Has $323.42 Million Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Blair William & Co. IL cut its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 799,956 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,700 shares during the period. Watsco makes up approximately 0.9% of Blair William & Co. IL’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Watsco were worth $323,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop National Bank grew its position in shares of Watsco by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 454 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Watsco by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,700 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Watsco by 6.0% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 601 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 1.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Capital LLC FL raised its holdings in Watsco by 0.5% in the third quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 6,993 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,827,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WSO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on Watsco in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE WSO opened at $393.87 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $533.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.98 billion, a PE ratio of 32.52 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $390.40 and its 200-day moving average is $377.99.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.09%.

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.