Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 24.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,658 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 23,400 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.17% of Watsco worth $28,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in Watsco by 242.9% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 4,700.0% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Watsco by 1,300.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 112 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Mizuho set a $425.00 price target on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. One 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of WSO stock opened at $417.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $378.61. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $533.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 99.09%.

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.