Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Reduces Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 23.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,472 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 10,393 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned 0.08% of Watsco worth $14,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Watsco

In related news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 774 shares of Watsco stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.85, for a total transaction of $366,759.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $838,714.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Watsco news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.85, for a total value of $366,759.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $838,714.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Alexander Macdonald sold 5,334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.41, for a total transaction of $2,487,830.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.25.

Watsco Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of WSO traded down $7.42 on Friday, hitting $477.99. 231,015 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 223,821. The company has a market capitalization of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of 36.77 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $456.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $424.20. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $337.58 and a one year high of $491.90.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.09). Watsco had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 7.03%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $2.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 83.08%.

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.