Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by Premier Fund Managers Ltd

Premier Fund Managers Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 33.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 66,333 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 34,036 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Watsco were worth $26,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Watsco by 89.2% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,808 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,286,000 after purchasing an additional 17,820 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 47.7% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 124,789 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,452,000 after buying an additional 40,326 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 577.9% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,957 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,069,000 after buying an additional 17,013 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 237.5% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,629 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after buying an additional 3,961 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco during the third quarter valued at $1,392,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $410.23 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $378.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $378.46. The firm has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $323.05 and a one year high of $533.07.

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

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WSO. Weiss Ratings reissued 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 report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on Watsco in a report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $416.29.

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.