Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 306,090 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 9,257 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.75% of Watsco worth $123,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Watsco during the second quarter valued at approximately $84,826,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 106.4% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,662 shares during the period. Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 257.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 97,730 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $39,512,000 after purchasing an additional 70,394 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 154.2% during the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 89,115 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,355,000 after purchasing an additional 54,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 81.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 120,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,994,000 after purchasing an additional 54,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group began coverage on Watsco in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.14.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $386.24 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.05 and a 1 year high of $535.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $358.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $383.77.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. As a group, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. 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.