Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Acquired by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 144,173 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,517 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.35% of Watsco worth $52,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 103.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,564,423,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,559,965 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $525,634,000 after buying an additional 46,799 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Watsco by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $500,572,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $214,373,000 after buying an additional 5,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after acquiring an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens boosted their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $395.50.

Watsco Trading Down 0.2%

Watsco stock opened at $308.82 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78 and a beta of 1.05. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $300.66 and a 1 year high of $459.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $379.48 and a 200-day moving average of $392.46.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.41 by ($0.41). Watsco had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 114.48%.

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.