Watsco, Inc. $WSO Stock Position Lowered by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 24.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 70,658 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 23,400 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Watsco were worth $28,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.3% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,073 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,455,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 6.0% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,400 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Watsco by 12.2% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,978 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 104.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,300 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,824,000 after acquiring an additional 12,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,671 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,720,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on Watsco in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $417.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $533.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $384.74 and its 200-day moving average is $378.61.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.09%.

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.