Heartland Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 52.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,830 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,596 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.09% of Watsco worth $14,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Watsco by 71.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Watsco by 117.1% during the 2nd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 990 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 0.5% during the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 105,692 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $46,676,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.9% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 14,659 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,474,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Watsco from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Watsco from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.14.

Watsco Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $419.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $372.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $378.49. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $535.40.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 93.75%.

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.