Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Cuts Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL reduced its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 84.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,080 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 43,694 shares during the quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL’s holdings in Watsco were worth $3,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2,366.7% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in Watsco by 242.9% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Watsco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Watsco by 4,700.0% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Watsco during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on WSO shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $347.91 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $394.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $374.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $521.70.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

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

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.