328,989 Shares in Watsco, Inc. $WSO Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 328,989 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,853,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in Watsco by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in Watsco by 151.4% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 181 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in Watsco in the third quarter worth approximately $74,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Watsco Stock Up 0.1%

WSO opened at $368.66 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $494.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $398.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $382.43. The firm has a market cap of $14.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.59 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Watsco Increases Dividend

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