Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 5,708 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,976 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,708 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $19,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 151.4% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 181 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the third quarter valued at $74,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE WSO opened at $371.58 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $398.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $382.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $494.94.

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

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 109.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.