Prospera Financial Services Inc Has $11.36 Million Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,097 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,911 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc owned about 0.07% of Watsco worth $11,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 31,484 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 357,837 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $158,028,000 after purchasing an additional 6,566 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 356,844 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $143,748,000 after purchasing an additional 36,010 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 106.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $130,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,662 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Watsco from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Watsco in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $404.14.

Watsco Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE WSO opened at $414.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $365.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $380.07. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $535.40. The company has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.39 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. Equities analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 93.75%.

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.