Swedbank AB Trims Stake in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Swedbank AB decreased its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 38.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 52,345 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 32,047 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Watsco were worth $17,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 710 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 7,814 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,633,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in Watsco by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 948 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Down 0.2%

WSO stock opened at $374.58 on Tuesday. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $494.94. The firm has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $399.70 and a 200 day moving average of $381.36.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Stephens raised 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. Finally, Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $399.83.

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.