River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 24,447 Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

River Road Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 42.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,363 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 24,447 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Watsco worth $14,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Watsco by 13.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 2.8% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,429 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,290,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new stake in Watsco in the first quarter worth $246,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in Watsco by 9.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 19,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $396.00.

Watsco Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE:WSO opened at $403.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 3.36. The firm has a market cap of $15.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57 and a beta of 0.90. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.27 and a fifty-two week high of $447.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $409.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $398.02.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.44). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 21.36% and a net margin of 7.36%. Watsco’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.35 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $2.70 per share. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.06%.

Watsco Profile

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.