Watsco, Inc. $WSO Stock Position Boosted by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,151 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.11% of Watsco worth $15,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. Capital International Investors grew its position in Watsco by 103.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,564,423,000 after buying an additional 2,356,998 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Watsco by 60,779.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,056,000 after buying an additional 598,677 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at about $110,853,000. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in Watsco by 12,054.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,975,000 after buying an additional 171,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Watsco by 106.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $130,801,000 after buying an additional 152,662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE:WSO opened at $376.85 on Thursday. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $494.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $400.53 and a 200-day moving average of $383.62. The firm has a market cap of $15.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 109.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.