Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 165,177 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 10,579 shares during the period. Watsco comprises approximately 1.9% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned about 0.42% of Watsco worth $70,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Watsco by 53.1% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 75 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WSO. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Watsco from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.25.

Watsco Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of WSO traded up $4.64 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $447.85. The stock had a trading volume of 219,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 345,885. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $412.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $399.74. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $315.17 and a twelve month high of $451.29. The firm has a market cap of $17.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.83 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.25 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $2.70 dividend. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.08%.

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.