Jennison Associates LLC Lowers Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 24.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 36,771 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 12,106 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.09% of Watsco worth $16,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $238,329,000 after purchasing an additional 180,951 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Watsco in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Watsco by 6.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,454,512 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $739,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,977 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Watsco during the first quarter worth approximately $41,218,000. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Watsco by 81.8% during the second quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 120,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $52,994,000 after buying an additional 54,000 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WSO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $440.83.

Watsco Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of WSO stock opened at $367.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $387.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $431.12. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $350.00 and a twelve month high of $571.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.60 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 93.75%.

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.