Watsco, Inc. $WSO Stock Holdings Boosted by Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.

Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. increased its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,133 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 3,788 shares during the quarter. Watsco comprises about 6.0% of Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. owned approximately 0.08% of Watsco worth $11,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WSO shares. Stephens lifted their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $399.83.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $367.91 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $399.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $381.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 1.12. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.54%.

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.