Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $4.46 Million Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,699 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,459,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in Watsco during the second quarter valued at approximately $537,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at $60,024,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at $112,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at $119,291,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the 2nd quarter worth $915,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Trading Down 1.8%

Watsco stock opened at $309.26 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 1.05. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $295.75 and a 12 month high of $459.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $350.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $379.91.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price objective on Watsco in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson lowered their target price 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 increased their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, August 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $395.50.

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.