Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 21.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,268 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 12,857 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.11% of Watsco worth $16,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Watsco by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 45,756 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,417,000 after purchasing an additional 12,190 shares during the period. Crown Oak Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Watsco by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC now owns 26,721 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Watsco by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 166,172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,992,000 after purchasing an additional 68,442 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 1,226.5% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 20,362 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,861,000 after purchasing an additional 18,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in Watsco by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 186,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,968,000 after purchasing an additional 72,977 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $402.71.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $359.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $385.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $393.43. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $493.66.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.81 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

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.