Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Raises Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,963 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Watsco were worth $3,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Watsco by 62.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $238,329,000 after buying an additional 180,951 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 23.1% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 16,218 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,244,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter worth about $573,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Watsco by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 26,348 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its stake in Watsco by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 12,948 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watsco Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:WSO opened at $341.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $375.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.69. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $335.02 and a 12 month high of $571.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Watsco had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.04%.The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 93.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Watsco from $425.00 to $390.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $435.00.

Watsco Company Profile

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.