Naples Global Advisors LLC Has $5.85 Million Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,349 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $5,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. BHK Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. BHK Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $773,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Watsco by 148.6% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,713 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,857,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $399.83.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $419.93 on Monday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $496.25. The company has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $399.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $378.37.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for 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 revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

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

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.