Dearborn Partners LLC Has $39.60 Million Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Dearborn Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 13.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 97,935 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,878 shares during the period. Watsco makes up 1.9% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $39,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Watsco by 89.2% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,808 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,286,000 after purchasing an additional 17,820 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 47.7% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 124,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,452,000 after buying an additional 40,326 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 577.9% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,957 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,069,000 after acquiring an additional 17,013 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 237.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,629 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 3,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Watsco in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,392,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of WSO opened at $410.23 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $533.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $378.09 and its 200-day moving average is $378.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.88 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is 99.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on WSO shares. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on Watsco in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $416.29.

Watsco Profile

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.