Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Bought by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 91.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,907 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,076 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $5,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WSO. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 125 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:WSO opened at $400.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a PE ratio of 33.27 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $494.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $402.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $385.65.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WSO. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Stephens upped their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Watsco in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $397.71.

About Watsco

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.