BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Has $1.24 Million Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 211.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,405 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,310 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Watsco were worth $1,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors grew its position in Watsco by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 608 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Bayban purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $7,952,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 21,804 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,347,000 after buying an additional 3,538 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Stock Up 3.2%

WSO stock opened at $400.07 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $401.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $386.94. The company has a market cap of $16.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. Watsco’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 109.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens increased their price objective on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson began coverage on Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $397.71.

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.