Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 100,452 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 8,236 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Watsco were worth $33,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Watsco by 264.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 762 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Watsco by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 29,399 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,085,000. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in Watsco by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 577,669 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $194,646,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 166,172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,992,000 after purchasing an additional 68,442 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $367.91 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $399.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $381.73. The stock has a market cap of $14.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 1.12. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $323.05 and a one year high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.Watsco’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens raised their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $399.83.

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.