Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 1,382 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,807 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,382 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Watsco were worth $7,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC grew its position in Watsco by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 710 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Watsco by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Watsco by 6.0% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 601 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL lifted its stake in Watsco by 0.5% in the third quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 6,993 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Watsco by 4.7% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $399.83.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO stock opened at $429.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $398.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $377.02. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $496.25.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. Watsco’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 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.