Waverly Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,100 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,128,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bayban bought a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $308.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $379.48 and its 200 day moving average is $392.35. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $300.66 and a 1 year high of $459.00.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.53%.Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WSO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price target on Watsco in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $395.50.

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.