Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 22,751 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 107.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,023 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 22,751 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $17,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,485,996 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $656,036,000 after acquiring an additional 31,484 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 389,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $171,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Watsco by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 356,844 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,748,000 after purchasing an additional 36,010 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 106.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,662 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Watsco by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 276,750 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $111,890,000 after buying an additional 14,013 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Down 3.7%

WSO stock opened at $379.47 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $392.02 and its 200 day moving average is $377.04. The stock has a market cap of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.05 and a 1-year high of $521.70.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 99.09%.

Key Watsco News

Here are the key news stories impacting Watsco this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell 12.4% to 3.08M shares as of Feb. 27, lowering the short-interest ratio to ~7.8 days and removing some downside pressure from crowded bearish bets.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised several later-period estimates and long-range outlooks — including Q3 2027 (to $4.77), Q4 2027 (to $2.42) and FY2028 (to $15.63) — signaling upside to 2027–2028 earnings expectations even as near-term estimates move around.
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish coverage highlighting Watsco as an undervalued HVAC/R player with strong dividend-growth potential may support buyer interest for long-term investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks continues to carry a “Hold” rating on WSO; its revisions are mixed across quarters, so analyst sentiment is not turning uniformly bullish or bearish at this stage.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks cut several near-term forecasts and trimmed FY2027: Q1 2026 to $1.74 (from $2.00), Q2 2026 to $4.27 (from $4.53), Q3 2026 to $4.22 (from $4.27), Q1 2027 to $1.89 (from $2.07), Q2 2027 to $4.74 (from $4.97) and lowered FY2027 to $13.83 (from $13.95). These downgrades increase near-term earnings risk and likely weigh on the stock today.
• Negative Sentiment: Negative media coverage arguing reasons to avoid WSO could amplify short-term selling pressure from momentum or retail investors. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $409.00.

Watsco Company 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.