California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 12,857 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 21.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,268 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 12,857 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Watsco were worth $16,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WSO. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 45,756 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,417,000 after acquiring an additional 12,190 shares during the last quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC now owns 26,721 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 166,172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,992,000 after purchasing an additional 68,442 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Watsco by 1,226.5% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 20,362 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,861,000 after purchasing an additional 18,827 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Watsco by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 186,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,968,000 after purchasing an additional 72,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO opened at $359.06 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $493.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $385.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $393.43.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WSO. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $402.71.

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.