DAVENPORT & Co LLC Has $159.29 Million Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 31.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 470,177 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 113,333 shares during the period. Watsco accounts for 0.8% of DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned about 1.16% of Watsco worth $159,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,014,233 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Watsco by 1.4% during the third 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. Hamlin Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Watsco by 13.3% during the third quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 405,480 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $163,936,000 after acquiring an additional 47,643 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 0.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 390,480 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $157,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 328,796 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $132,932,000 after acquiring an additional 3,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $409.00.

Watsco Trading Down 5.6%

Shares of WSO stock opened at $363.52 on Wednesday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $521.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $395.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $375.06.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.09%.

About Watsco

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.