Corient Private Wealth LLC Sells 10,648 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Corient Private Wealth LLC trimmed its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 145,405 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 10,648 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $49,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Bayban purchased a new stake in Watsco in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Watsco during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $397.71.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO stock opened at $400.86 on Monday. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $323.05 and a one year high of $494.94. The firm has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.27 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $402.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $385.96.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. Watsco’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.