Watsco, Inc. $WSO Stock Position Lessened by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 254,200 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 51,890 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Watsco were worth $85,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the third quarter worth $74,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 86.6% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 209 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WSO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens increased their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $399.83.

Watsco Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WSO stock opened at $371.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $399.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $382.89. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $494.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.