BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 46.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,306 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,440 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Watsco were worth $6,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 4.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Watsco by 95.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,297 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Watsco by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 50,442 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,275,000 after purchasing an additional 3,570 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Watsco by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,258 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,180,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Watsco by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 523 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens upped their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $399.83.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $386.34 on Wednesday. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $323.05 and a one year high of $494.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $399.97 and a 200 day moving average of $383.25.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released 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. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.Watsco’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 EPS 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 $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 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.