Blair William & Co. IL Sells 124,516 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 675,440 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 124,516 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 1.67% of Watsco worth $227,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Watsco by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 45,756 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,417,000 after purchasing an additional 12,190 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 12.2% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,978 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,333,000 after buying an additional 3,592 shares during the last quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. grew its holdings in Watsco by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 55,692 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $18,765,000 after buying an additional 16,322 shares in the last quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Watsco by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC now owns 26,721 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,004,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Watsco in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,043,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Trading Up 1.2%

WSO stock opened at $389.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.33 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $401.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $384.89. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.05 and a 1-year high of $494.94.

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

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 109.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Watsco in a research note on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $397.71.

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.