Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 9,500 Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,558 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.32% of Watsco worth $62,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 4.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,894 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,473,836,000 after buying an additional 146,305 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 1.2% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 801,152 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $371,126,000 after acquiring an additional 9,141 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its holdings in Watsco by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 571,250 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $264,626,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Watsco by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 393,032 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $182,068,000 after purchasing an additional 6,320 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 340,023 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $145,690,000 after buying an additional 15,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WSO. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $469.80.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO stock traded down $3.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $480.69. 306,177 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 293,651. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $338.58 and a 52 week high of $520.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 3.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.98 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $477.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $467.54.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.70 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 18.55%. Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 16th will be given a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 16th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 83.08%.

About Watsco

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.