Nordea Investment Management AB Grows Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,303 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.14% of Watsco worth $22,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 4.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,013,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,242,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 16,218 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,244,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 771 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Watsco by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 31,465 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,896,000 after buying an additional 9,835 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $402.71.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO stock opened at $380.57 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $535.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $348.83 and its 200 day moving average is $390.32. The company has a market capitalization of $15.44 billion, a PE ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 1.03.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.75%.

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.