Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Bought by Riverbridge Partners LLC

Riverbridge Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 89.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,738 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 62,328 shares during the quarter. Watsco accounts for about 1.2% of Riverbridge Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $47,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Watsco by 60,779.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,056,000 after purchasing an additional 598,677 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at $110,853,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Watsco by 202.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 472,182 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $159,102,000 after purchasing an additional 316,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 12,054.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,975,000 after buying an additional 171,654 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Trading Down 2.6%

WSO stock opened at $387.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $401.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $386.58. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $494.94. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Stephens boosted their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $397.71.

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.