IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires New Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

IFM Investors Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 7,461 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,714,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Watsco by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,013,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Watsco by 95.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,297 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Watsco by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 50,442 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $22,275,000 after acquiring an additional 3,570 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Watsco by 2.8% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,258 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,180,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Watsco by 12.0% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 523 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WSO. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $397.71.

Watsco Trading Down 0.3%

WSO stock opened at $403.43 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $494.94. The company has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $399.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $389.62.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. 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.