Riverbridge Partners LLC Decreases Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Riverbridge Partners LLC lessened its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 69,410 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 16,939 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $23,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 4.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,013,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 242.9% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $242,000. MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in Watsco by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 589 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Watsco by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,711 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,263,000 after purchasing an additional 2,803 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WSO shares. Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group started coverage on Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Down 5.2%

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $347.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $394.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $374.81. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $521.70.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced 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). Watsco had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 99.09%.

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.