Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Shares Purchased by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,692 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Watsco were worth $3,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 57.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 90 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the third quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WSO. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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 started coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $486.25.

Watsco Stock Performance

Watsco stock opened at $495.89 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $493.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $496.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43 and a beta of 0.92. Watsco, Inc. has a one year low of $396.82 and a one year high of $571.42.

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

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $2.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.51%.

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.