Norges Bank Buys Shares of 328,989 Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 328,989 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,853,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.81% of Watsco at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 151.4% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 181 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Price Performance

WSO stock opened at $368.66 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $398.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $382.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.05 and a 1 year high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.64 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $425.00 target price on Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens increased their target price on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $399.83.

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.