Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $3.21 Million Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 708.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,950 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,967 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Watsco were worth $3,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the second quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Watsco by 2,366.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 242.9% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO opened at $386.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $353.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $385.61. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $323.05 and a one year high of $535.40.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter. Watsco had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.04%.The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WSO. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Watsco from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Watsco from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.14.

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.