Man Group plc Invests $1.16 Million in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,775 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,156,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Watsco by 103.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after buying an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,559,965 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $525,634,000 after acquiring an additional 46,799 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $500,572,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $214,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 582,169 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $211,787,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $309.26 on Thursday. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $295.75 and a one year high of $459.00. The company has a market capitalization of $12.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $350.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $379.91.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Watsco had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.53%.The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.52 EPS. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio 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.