BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Decreases Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments trimmed its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 28,500 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments’ holdings in Watsco were worth $9,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,939 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,338,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl raised its holdings in Watsco by 60.3% during the 4th 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 raised its holdings in Watsco by 219.8% during the 4th 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. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Watsco by 103.1% during the 4th 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. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Watsco Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $371.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86 and a beta of 1.05. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $494.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $399.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $382.89.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for 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 for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This is an increase 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 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.