Capital World Investors Cuts Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Capital World Investors trimmed its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 434,018 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 200,000 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned approximately 1.07% of Watsco worth $146,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Sarl increased its holdings in Watsco by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 2,709 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA increased its holdings in Watsco by 219.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 58,462 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $19,699,000 after buying an additional 40,182 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Watsco by 103.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,564,423,000 after buying an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Havemeyer Place LP purchased a new position in Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $820,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watsco Price Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $371.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $399.17 and a 200 day moving average of $382.89. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.05 and a 1 year high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $399.83.

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.