Vantage Investment Partners LLC Increases Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 257.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,730 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 70,394 shares during the quarter. Watsco makes up about 2.7% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC owned 0.24% of Watsco worth $39,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at $84,826,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 106.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $130,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,662 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 154.2% in the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 89,115 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $39,355,000 after purchasing an additional 54,053 shares during the last quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Watsco by 81.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 120,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $52,994,000 after buying an additional 54,000 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Watsco by 844.7% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 56,486 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $24,945,000 after buying an additional 50,507 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Watsco from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.14.

Watsco Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $388.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $352.11 and a 200 day moving average of $387.85. The company has a market capitalization of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $535.40.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. Watsco had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.04%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 93.75%.

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.