Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 22.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 62,684 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 17,808 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $25,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Watsco by 2.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 31,484 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Watsco by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 389,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $171,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 11.2% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 356,844 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,748,000 after buying an additional 36,010 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 152,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $111,890,000 after buying an additional 14,013 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO stock opened at $379.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $521.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $392.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $377.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WSO shares. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group began coverage on Watsco in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.00.

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.