Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Stock Holdings Decreased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 34.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,925 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 56,503 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.27% of Watsco worth $51,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WSO. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the third quarter valued at $265,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Watsco by 764.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,745 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 4,196 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Watsco by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,942 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,890,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Watsco by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,330 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $345,783,000 after acquiring an additional 63,254 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Watsco by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,258 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WSO. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.25.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $509.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.60 billion, a PE ratio of 38.47 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $496.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $498.92. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $396.82 and a twelve month high of $571.42.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 17.59%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.70. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 90.57%.

Watsco Company Profile

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.