Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Makes New $1.25 Million Investment in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,000 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 710 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Watsco by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,115 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in Watsco by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 7,814 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,633,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Watsco by 5.2% in the second quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 783 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Watsco by 10.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 496 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price target on Watsco in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $395.50.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $314.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27 and a beta of 1.05. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $300.66 and a 52 week high of $459.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $364.54 and a 200-day moving average of $386.25.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.41 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 114.48%.

Key Stories Impacting Watsco

Here are the key news stories impacting Watsco this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its FY2028 EPS forecast to $15.26 from $14.93, suggesting stronger long-term earnings potential. Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an Overweight rating on Watsco. Stephens Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Watsco
• Neutral Sentiment: The analyst revisions were mixed: Zacks increased estimates for Q1 2027 and Q1 2028, but maintained its FY2027 EPS forecast at $13.53 and FY2028 forecast at $15.26. The current full-year consensus remains $12.43 per share.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks lowered its forecasts for Q3 2026 EPS to $4.21 from $4.29, Q4 2026 to $2.13 from $2.15, FY2026 to $12.21 from $12.56, Q2 2027 to $4.61 from $4.75, Q3 2027 to $4.65 from $4.69, Q4 2027 to $2.33 from $2.34, and FY2027 to $13.53 from $13.70. The broad downward revisions indicate softer near- and medium-term earnings expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: The latest quarterly results showed weakening profitability: EPS declined from $4.52 a year earlier and missed analysts’ estimates, while revenue increased only 2.1% year over year. Watsco is trading below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages and near its 52-week low, which may amplify investor caution.

Watsco Company 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.