Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 104.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,300 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 12,403 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $9,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Watsco by 89.2% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,808 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,286,000 after purchasing an additional 17,820 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 47.7% during the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 124,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,452,000 after buying an additional 40,326 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 577.9% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,957 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,069,000 after buying an additional 17,013 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Watsco by 237.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,629 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after buying an additional 3,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,392,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE WSO opened at $410.97 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $533.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $383.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $378.60. The stock has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.94 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.26). Watsco had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. Watsco’s revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 99.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group began coverage on Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $409.00.

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.