Canal Capital Management LLC Acquires 8,979 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Canal Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 99.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,970 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,979 shares during the quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $6,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comerica Bank increased its stake in Watsco by 36.3% in 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 during the period. Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 55,692 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $18,765,000 after purchasing an additional 16,322 shares during the period. Crown Oak Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC now owns 26,721 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 741.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,285,895 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $924,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 470,177 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,293,000 after purchasing an additional 113,333 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on WSO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $397.71.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO opened at $403.43 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $399.01 and its 200 day moving average is $389.62. The stock has a market cap of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48 and a beta of 1.02. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be paid a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.54%.

Watsco Company 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.