Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Bought by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors grew its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 103.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,356,998 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned about 11.45% of Watsco worth $1,564,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WSO. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Watsco by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Up 0.7%

WSO stock opened at $371.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $398.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $382.36. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.