Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 51.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,372 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,502 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its stake in Watsco by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 18,015 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,070,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Watsco by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,306 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,440 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in Watsco by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 8,600 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,898,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Watsco Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of WSO opened at $368.50 on Thursday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $494.94. The company has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $398.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $382.25.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.54%.

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.