National Pension Service Has $1.01 Million Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

National Pension Service raised its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 93.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,982 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Watsco were worth $1,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 45,756 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,417,000 after purchasing an additional 12,190 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,392,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 276,750 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $111,890,000 after purchasing an additional 14,013 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $359.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $399.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $381.99. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were paid a $3.30 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.