Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• Sanctuary Advisors initiated a Watsco position by purchasing 7,184 shares valued at approximately $2.99 million. Institutional investors collectively own 89.71% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with two Buy ratings and nine Hold ratings; the consensus rating is Hold with a $395.50 price target.
• Watsco shares opened at $302.82 after declining 2.6%, while the company’s latest quarterly results missed estimates, reporting $4.00 in EPS versus $4.41 expected and $2.10 billion in revenue versus $2.14 billion forecast.

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,184 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $2,994,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 4.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 95.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,297 shares of the construction company's stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Watsco by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 50,442 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $22,275,000 after buying an additional 3,570 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Watsco by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,258 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $7,180,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Watsco by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 523 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $395.50.

Watsco Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE:WSO opened at $302.82 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $359.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $384.40. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $295.75 and a 12 month high of $459.00. The stock has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26 and a beta of 1.05.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.41 by ($0.41). Watsco had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.52 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco's payout ratio is presently 114.48%.

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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