Short Interest in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Drops By 12.4%

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 3,081,118 shares, a drop of 12.4% from the February 12th total of 3,517,021 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 392,608 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.8 days. Currently, 8.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently, 8.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 392,608 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Watsco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Watsco by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 742 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $284,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,700 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,076,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of Watsco stock traded down $1.05 on Wednesday, hitting $380.84. The company had a trading volume of 66,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,806. Watsco has a 1 year low of $323.05 and a 1 year high of $521.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $394.63 and a 200-day moving average of $375.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38 and a beta of 1.03.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its 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 net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Watsco will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 99.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group started coverage on Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.00.

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.