Hsbc Holdings PLC Makes New Investment in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,793 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,917,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,564,423,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356,998 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $110,853,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 202.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 472,182 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,102,000 after buying an additional 316,129 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at $97,937,000. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new stake in Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,695,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $395.50.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $310.89 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $355.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $382.50. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $295.75 and a fifty-two week high of $459.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96 and a beta of 1.05.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by ($0.41). Watsco had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.48%.

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.