Bokf Na Trims Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• Bokf Na cut its stake in Watsco by 40.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,722 shares and leaving it with 3,981 shares valued at about $1.34 million.
• Watsco reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings of $1.87 per share on revenue of $1.53 billion, topping analyst estimates, though revenue was only slightly above year-ago levels.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $3.30 per share from $3.00, annualizing to $13.20 per share and yielding about 3.1%; meanwhile, analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold.

Bokf Na lessened its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 40.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,981 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 2,722 shares during the period. Bokf Na's holdings in Watsco were worth $1,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors increased its position in Watsco by 741.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,285,895 shares of the construction company's stock worth $924,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014,233 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $202,056,000 after buying an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in shares of Watsco by 12,054.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company's stock worth $69,975,000 after acquiring an additional 171,654 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 106.4% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $130,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,662 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 470,177 shares of the construction company's stock worth $159,293,000 after acquiring an additional 113,333 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $419.93 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.05 and a 1 year high of $496.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $399.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $378.37.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $399.83.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WSO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.