Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Bought by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 211.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,405 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Watsco were worth $1,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 103.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,056,000 after acquiring an additional 598,677 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Watsco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $110,853,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 316,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Watsco by 12,054.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,975,000 after purchasing an additional 171,654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. DA Davidson started coverage on Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $397.71.

Watsco Price Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $400.07 on Thursday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $494.94. The company has a market capitalization of $16.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.20 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $401.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $386.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 109.54%.

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.