Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Boosts Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 7.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,156 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Watsco were worth $6,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Watsco by 192.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 54,613 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $17,376,000 after acquiring an additional 35,908 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Watsco by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,642 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,474,000 after purchasing an additional 9,566 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Watsco by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,304 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Watsco by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monument Capital Management purchased a new stake in Watsco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,721,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WSO. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Watsco from $375.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Watsco from $305.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, August 28th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $335.00 to $350.00 in a report on Monday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $373.78.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of WSO stock opened at $389.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $365.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $358.66. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.38 and a 12 month high of $406.08.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 19th. The construction company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.07. Watsco had a return on equity of 22.66% and a net margin of 8.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 17th were given a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 16th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 64.69%.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies. 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.