SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 357.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,559 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 8,250 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $4,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Watsco by 10.2% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 238 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 454 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 6.0% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 601 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 2.2% during the second quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,638 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of WSO opened at $375.39 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $347.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $391.35. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $535.40.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Watsco had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.04%.The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 93.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on WSO. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $415.57.

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.