AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $45.04 Million Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 125,107 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,103 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Watsco were worth $45,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Watsco by 103.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,564,423,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Watsco by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,559,965 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $525,634,000 after acquiring an additional 46,799 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $500,572,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $214,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after purchasing an additional 598,677 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE WSO opened at $400.86 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $494.94. The stock has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.27 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $402.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $385.65.

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. 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens boosted their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $397.71.

Watsco Company 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.