Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 5,708 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,976 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,708 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.14% of Watsco worth $19,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 741.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,285,895 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $924,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014,233 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after purchasing an additional 598,677 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,853,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 12,054.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,975,000 after purchasing an additional 171,654 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $130,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,662 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $399.83.

Watsco Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE WSO opened at $371.58 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $494.94. The stock has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $398.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $382.36.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.54%.

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.