Aberdeen Group plc Cuts Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 22.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,885 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 7,071 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.06% of Watsco worth $9,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 242.9% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Watsco by 2,366.7% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Watsco during the second quarter worth about $34,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 4,700.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WSO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group initiated coverage on Watsco in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $416.29.

Watsco Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of WSO stock opened at $409.07 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $533.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $376.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $378.92. The company has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.26). Watsco had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.75%.

Watsco 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.