Watsco, Inc. $WSO Stock Holdings Increased by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,214 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 5,869 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Watsco were worth $21,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 710 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Watsco by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 7,814 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Watsco by 5.2% during the second quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 783 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $377.14 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $494.94. The stock has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a PE ratio of 31.30 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $394.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $391.08.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.Watsco’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WSO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $397.71.

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.