AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $57.02 Million Stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc reduced its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 19.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 112,565 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 26,592 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Watsco were worth $57,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 9.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 464,061 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $228,263,000 after buying an additional 41,845 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 97,832 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $46,362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 674 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC bought a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,006,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,699,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WSO shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Watsco from $475.00 to $455.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Watsco from $445.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho set a $490.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.67.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $434.68 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $478.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $492.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.81 and a beta of 1.11. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $430.20 and a one year high of $571.42.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 7.04%. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.70. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.24%.

Watsco Profile

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.