Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Sells 1,666 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lessened its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 13.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,035 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,666 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Watsco were worth $4,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,485,996 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $656,036,000 after buying an additional 31,484 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 0.3% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 389,104 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $171,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 11.2% in the third 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. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 106.4% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,801,000 after acquiring an additional 152,662 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Watsco by 5.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 276,750 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $111,890,000 after purchasing an additional 14,013 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Down 1.0%

WSO stock opened at $408.16 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $382.10 and its 200 day moving average is $378.37. The stock has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.05 and a 1-year high of $533.07.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.Watsco’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WSO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group started coverage on Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $416.29.

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.