Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,806 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,711 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of Watsco worth $32,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Watsco by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the second quarter worth about $26,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 12.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,410 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 1.6% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 12,400 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,476,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 180.2% in the second quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 2,306 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $406.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.72 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $362.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $382.33. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $535.40.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $404.14.

Watsco 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.