United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,041 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,517,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 12.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 239,606 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $87,166,000 after purchasing an additional 26,003 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 166,172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,992,000 after acquiring an additional 68,442 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Watsco by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 186,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,968,000 after purchasing an additional 72,977 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Watsco by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 21,807 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,528,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley raised 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, July 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $395.50.

Watsco Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE WSO opened at $310.89 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $355.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $382.50. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $295.75 and a 12-month high of $459.00. The firm has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96 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 the consensus estimate of $4.41 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.53%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.52 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 114.48%.

About Watsco

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.