Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 12,771 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers trimmed its Watsco stake by 19.3% in Q4, selling 12,771 shares and ending the quarter with 53,562 shares worth $18,379,000.
• Watsco beat quarterly estimates with $1.87 EPS (vs. $1.73 expected) and $1.53 billion in revenue, and raised its quarterly dividend to $3.30 ($13.20 annual, ~3.0% yield) despite a high payout ratio of 109.54%.
• Institutional ownership is about 89.7% as several large investors (e.g., Capital International, M&T, Two Sigma) materially upped positions, while analysts hold a consensus "Hold" rating with an average target near $399.83.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,562 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 12,771 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd owned about 0.13% of Watsco worth $18,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WSO. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake 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 valued at $69,975,000 after acquiring an additional 171,654 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 106.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $130,801,000 after acquiring an additional 152,662 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $159,293,000 after acquiring an additional 113,333 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Up 2.9%

NYSE WSO opened at $432.87 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.92 and a beta of 1.12. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $496.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $398.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $377.96.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. Watsco's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This is an increase from Watsco's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Watsco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $399.83.

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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