M&T Bank Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp dramatically increased its stake in Watsco, buying an additional 598,677 shares in Q4 to own 599,662 shares (about 1.48% of the company) valued at roughly $202.1 million.
• Watsco missed Q4 estimates, reporting $1.68 EPS versus the $1.94 consensus and $1.58 billion in revenue (down 9.9% year-over-year versus $1.62 billion expected).
• Watsco raised its quarterly dividend to $3.30 per share (annualized $13.20, ~3.0% yield) with a payout ratio of 109%, signaling a generous but potentially stretched distribution level.

M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 60,779.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 599,662 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 598,677 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp owned 1.48% of Watsco worth $202,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC now owns 3,198 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in Watsco by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 9,645 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,279,000 after buying an additional 1,794 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in Watsco by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 260 shares of the construction company's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the construction company's stock worth $784,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watsco Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE WSO opened at $440.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.35 and a beta of 1.06. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $509.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $395.45 and a 200 day moving average of $374.34.

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

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Watsco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $409.00.

Watsco Company 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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