Swedbank AB Sells 28,100 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Swedbank AB reduced its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 27.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 75,731 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 28,100 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Watsco were worth $38,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,557,610 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $791,734,000 after acquiring an additional 7,760 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,454,512 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $739,088,000 after acquiring an additional 82,977 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 814,712 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $414,118,000 after acquiring an additional 43,776 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 496,428 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $252,335,000 after acquiring an additional 18,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 89,376.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 477,802 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $242,867,000 after acquiring an additional 477,268 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Watsco from $455.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $505.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Watsco from $445.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $484.17.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $381.84 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $433.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $460.02. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $378.35 and a 1 year high of $571.41. The company has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28 and a beta of 0.95.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.84 by ($0.32). Watsco had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 16.96%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.02%.

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.