Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 41.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,658 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 29,000 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Watsco were worth $14,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Watsco by 741.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,285,895 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $924,187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014,233 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Watsco by 60,779.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after acquiring an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Watsco by 12,054.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,975,000 after acquiring an additional 171,654 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 106.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,801,000 after acquiring an additional 152,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 470,177 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,293,000 after acquiring an additional 113,333 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on WSO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $399.83.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO stock opened at $378.29 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.05 and a 1 year high of $494.94. The firm has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $399.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $381.15.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.7 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is 109.54%.

About Watsco

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.