Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 27.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,717 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,090 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Watsco were worth $5,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watsco during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bayban purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WSO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $397.71.

Watsco Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:WSO opened at $403.43 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $399.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $389.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48 and a beta of 1.02. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.05 and a 1-year high of $494.94.

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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.