Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 34,036 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Premier Fund Managers Ltd lowered its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,333 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 34,036 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd owned approximately 0.16% of Watsco worth $26,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 89.2% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,808 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,286,000 after buying an additional 17,820 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 47.7% during 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 period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 577.9% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,957 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,069,000 after acquiring an additional 17,013 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 237.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,629 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 3,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Watsco in the third quarter worth about $1,392,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $416.29.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $410.23 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $533.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.88 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $378.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $378.46.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.26). Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.09%.

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.