Carnegie Investment Counsel Has $10.81 Million Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,712 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,772 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel owned 0.07% of Watsco worth $10,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 103.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,998 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Watsco by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,559,965 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $525,634,000 after purchasing an additional 46,799 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Watsco by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $500,572,000 after purchasing an additional 16,595 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Watsco by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $214,373,000 after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Watsco by 60,779.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after buying an additional 598,677 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WSO. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 target price on the stock. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $402.71.

Watsco Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $384.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $15.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.89 and a beta of 1.02. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $494.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $393.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $391.34.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. 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.