Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 4,344 Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,344 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Watsco by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,557,610 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $791,734,000 after acquiring an additional 7,760 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Watsco by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,454,512 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $739,088,000 after acquiring an additional 82,977 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Watsco by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 814,712 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $414,118,000 after acquiring an additional 43,776 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Watsco by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 496,428 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $252,335,000 after acquiring an additional 18,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Watsco by 62.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $238,329,000 after acquiring an additional 180,951 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WSO shares. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $505.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $480.00.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $402.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87 and a beta of 0.94. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $378.35 and a 1 year high of $571.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $413.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $450.61.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.84 by ($0.32). Watsco had a return on equity of 16.96% and a net margin of 7.08%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 92.02%.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.