Intech Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 104.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,300 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 12,403 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Watsco worth $9,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,485,996 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $656,036,000 after acquiring an additional 31,484 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Watsco by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 389,104 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $171,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Watsco by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 356,844 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,748,000 after purchasing an additional 36,010 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Watsco by 106.4% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 5.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 276,750 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $111,890,000 after buying an additional 14,013 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $410.97 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $533.07. The firm has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.94 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $383.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $378.60.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.Watsco’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.37 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.09%.

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.