Vanguard Group Inc. Has $1.19 Billion Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,523,522 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 27,546 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Watsco worth $1,187,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 2,366.7% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Watsco in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Watsco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WSO shares. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $399.83.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $429.56 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $496.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $398.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $376.93. The company has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65 and a beta of 1.06.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a $3.30 dividend. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 109.54%.

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.