Heartland Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 14.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,593 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,442 shares during the period. Watsco accounts for 1.0% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $18,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Watsco by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after buying an additional 2,356,998 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Watsco by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,559,965 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $525,634,000 after buying an additional 46,799 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Watsco by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $500,572,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Watsco by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $214,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Watsco by 60,779.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,056,000 after acquiring an additional 598,677 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on WSO shares. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, Watsco currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $402.71.

Watsco Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of WSO opened at $372.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 1.02. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $494.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $389.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $392.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.81 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. 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.