Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by Mather Group LLC.

Key Points

• Mather Group LLC cut its Watsco stake by 95.7% in the third quarter, selling 5,109 shares and retaining 231 shares valued at approximately $70,000. Institutional investors collectively own 89.71% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly cautious: Watsco has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $373.62 price target, while several firms recently reduced their targets or downgraded the stock.
• Watsco shares opened at $305.52, near their 52-week low, after the company missed quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $3.30, equivalent to a 4.3% annualized yield.

Mather Group LLC. lessened its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 95.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 231 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 5,109 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.'s holdings in Watsco were worth $70,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in Watsco by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 582,169 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $211,787,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco during the third quarter valued at approximately $96,991,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Watsco during the second quarter valued at approximately $119,291,000. Caledonia Investments PLC increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 12.2% during the third quarter. Caledonia Investments PLC now owns 261,439 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $79,072,000 after buying an additional 28,512 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Watsco during the second quarter valued at approximately $97,937,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $330.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Watsco from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Watsco from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $373.62.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $305.52 on Thursday. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $277.34 and a 1 year high of $459.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $306.66 and a 200 day moving average of $359.00. The stock has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50 and a beta of 1.06.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.41 by ($0.41). Watsco had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.53%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th. Watsco's payout ratio is 114.48%.

Watsco Profile

Watsco, Inc NYSE: WSO is a distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment and related products. The company supplies residential and light commercial air-conditioning and heating systems, refrigeration equipment, replacement parts, and other supplies used by contractors and service professionals.

Watsco distributes products from leading HVAC/R manufacturers, including equipment and components such as air conditioners, heat pumps, furnaces, air handlers, thermostats, controls, motors and indoor air-quality products.

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