Blair William & Co. IL Sells 6,700 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 799,956 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,700 shares during the quarter. Watsco accounts for approximately 0.9% of Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 1.97% of Watsco worth $323,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Watsco by 0.3% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in Watsco by 11.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Watsco by 5.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group started coverage on Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $393.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.52 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $533.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $390.40 and a 200-day moving average of $377.99.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The company’s revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.09%.

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.