Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 7,184 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Bayban bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in Watsco during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Watsco during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Watsco during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price target on Watsco in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $395.50.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $302.82 on Wednesday. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $295.75 and a 1 year high of $459.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $359.97 and its 200 day moving average is $384.40. The stock has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26 and a beta of 1.05.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The firm’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 business posted $4.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.48%.

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.