LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Has $12.47 Million Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lessened its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,999 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,420 shares during the period. Watsco makes up about 1.5% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC owned about 0.09% of Watsco worth $12,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 710 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Watsco by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL lifted its holdings in Watsco by 0.5% during the third quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 6,993 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 4.7% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 4.2% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 948 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO opened at $421.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.96 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $398.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $377.52. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.05 and a 1 year high of $496.25.

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

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.