Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Sells 11,243 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,449 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 11,243 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.23% of Watsco worth $38,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 2.2% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,485,996 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $656,036,000 after purchasing an additional 31,484 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Watsco by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 389,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $171,836,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Watsco by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 357,837 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $158,028,000 after buying an additional 6,566 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 356,844 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,748,000 after acquiring an additional 36,010 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 106.4% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $130,801,000 after acquiring an additional 152,662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group began coverage on Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Watsco from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $415.57.

Watsco Stock Up 4.1%

NYSE WSO opened at $375.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $535.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $347.31 and its 200 day moving average is $391.35.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter. Watsco had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.04%.The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.75%.

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.