Watsco, Inc. $WSO Holdings Boosted by Caledonia Investments PLC

Caledonia Investments PLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 12.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 219,427 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the quarter. Watsco accounts for 8.7% of Caledonia Investments PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Caledonia Investments PLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $88,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Watsco by 89.2% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,808 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,286,000 after buying an additional 17,820 shares in the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 47.7% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 124,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,452,000 after acquiring an additional 40,326 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Watsco by 577.9% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,957 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,069,000 after purchasing an additional 17,013 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Watsco during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,392,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Watsco by 357.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,559 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,269,000 after purchasing an additional 8,250 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WSO shares. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Watsco from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $404.14.

Watsco Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $421.05 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $364.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $380.57. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $535.40. The company has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.89 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.75%.

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.