Delta Global Management LP Buys Shares of 6,408 Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Delta Global Management LP purchased a new stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,408 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,591,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSO. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 242.9% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 2,366.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Watsco in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 4,700.0% during the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Watsco during the third quarter worth about $49,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WSO shares. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $409.00.

Watsco Price Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $368.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.45 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $393.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $376.21. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.05 and a 1-year high of $521.70.

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). Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 99.09%.

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.