Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Acquires 2,006 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,160 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.27% of Watsco worth $44,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 2.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,485,996 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $656,036,000 after acquiring an additional 31,484 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 389,104 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $171,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 357,837 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $158,028,000 after purchasing an additional 6,566 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 11.2% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 356,844 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,748,000 after buying an additional 36,010 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Watsco by 106.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,801,000 after buying an additional 152,662 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WSO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Watsco from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Watsco from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $404.14.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO stock opened at $384.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $352.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $386.84. The company has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.01 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $535.40.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.75%.

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.