Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Acquires Shares of 3,948 Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,948 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,354,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 151.4% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 181 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the third quarter worth approximately $74,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WSO shares. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $399.83.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $403.45 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $323.05 and a one year high of $494.94. The company has a market cap of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $399.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $380.39.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.