AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 7,187 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• AEGON Asset Management UK trimmed its stake in Watsco by 5.9%, selling 7,187 shares and retaining 114,004 shares (about 0.28%, valued at $38.44M); other large institutional moves included Capital International adding ~2.29M shares and M&T Bank adding ~598.7K, leaving institutions owning 89.71% of the stock.
• Watsco missed quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $1.68 versus $1.94 expected and revenue of $1.58B versus $1.62B, with revenue down 9.9% year-over-year.
• Dividend raised to $3.30 quarterly (annualized $13.20) for a ~3.0% yield, though the dividend payout ratio is elevated at 109%.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc trimmed its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,004 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 7,187 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned 0.28% of Watsco worth $38,440,000 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 WSO. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Watsco by 741.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,285,895 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $924,187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014,233 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Watsco by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $500,572,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Watsco by 60,779.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $202,056,000 after acquiring an additional 598,677 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Watsco by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 470,177 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $159,293,000 after acquiring an additional 113,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Watsco by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 405,480 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $163,936,000 after acquiring an additional 47,643 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Watsco from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $382.80.

Watsco Price Performance

Watsco stock opened at $440.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 36.40 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50-day moving average is $396.42 and its 200-day moving average is $375.24. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $496.25.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.53 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th will be paid a $3.30 dividend. This is an increase from Watsco's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Watsco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.00%.

Watsco Profile

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.

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