Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.57% of Watsco worth $214,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 741.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,285,895 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $924,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014,233 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $500,572,000 after purchasing an additional 16,595 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after purchasing an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 577,669 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $194,646,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 470,177 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,293,000 after purchasing an additional 113,333 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Watsco Stock Up 1.1%

WSO stock opened at $363.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $399.05 and a 200-day moving average of $381.99. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. Watsco’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

Watsco 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.