Watsco, Inc. $WSO Stock Position Boosted by Osaic Holdings Inc.

Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 40.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,118 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,931 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $4,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Watsco by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $238,329,000 after purchasing an additional 180,951 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the second quarter valued at $331,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Watsco by 1.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 108,889 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,088,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 23.1% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 16,218 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,244,000 after buying an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Watsco by 4.9% during the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 21,717 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,591,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Performance

Watsco stock opened at $345.90 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $351.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $398.87. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $535.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WSO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Watsco from $425.00 to $390.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $422.71.

Watsco 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.