Canal Capital Management LLC Acquires 8,979 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Canal Capital Management LLC grew its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 99.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,970 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,979 shares during the quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $6,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,998 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Watsco by 60,779.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,056,000 after buying an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,853,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Watsco by 202.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 472,182 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,102,000 after buying an additional 316,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Watsco by 12,054.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,975,000 after acquiring an additional 171,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $403.43 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $494.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $399.01 and a 200 day moving average of $389.62.

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

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is 109.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens increased their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $397.71.

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.