Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Short Interest Update

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,667,025 shares, an increase of 25.6% from the March 31st total of 2,918,875 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 481,208 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.6 days. Approximately 10.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Watsco

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Watsco by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 69,933 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,441,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Watsco by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,565 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,185,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Watsco by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 7,108 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,586,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO stock traded down $8.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $429.56. 345,064 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,398. The firm has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65 and a beta of 1.06. Watsco has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $496.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $398.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $376.93.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Watsco will post 12.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 109.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $399.83.

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.