Blalock Williams LLC Makes New Investment in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Blalock Williams LLC bought a new position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,247 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $757,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Watsco by 4.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,013,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Watsco by 95.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,297 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Watsco by 7.6% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 50,442 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,275,000 after acquiring an additional 3,570 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 2.8% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,258 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,180,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 12.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 523 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $399.83.

Watsco Price Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $429.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65 and a beta of 1.06. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $323.05 and a one year high of $496.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $398.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $376.93.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

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.