California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 19,347,945 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 35,175.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,402,949 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,347,945 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.47% of Watsco worth $8,085,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WSO. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,564,423,000 after buying an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,853,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Watsco by 202.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 472,182 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,102,000 after acquiring an additional 316,129 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Watsco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $119,291,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Watsco in the second quarter valued at $97,937,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WSO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price objective on Watsco in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $395.50.

Watsco Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $316.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $342.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $376.95. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $295.75 and a 12-month high of $459.00.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.41 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 14.40%. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.48%.

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.