California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 19,347,945 Shares of Watsco, Inc. $WSO

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 35,175.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,402,949 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 19,347,945 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 47.04% of Watsco worth $8,085,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 239,606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $87,166,000 after buying an additional 26,003 shares during the period. Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Watsco by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 166,172 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $55,992,000 after acquiring an additional 68,442 shares during the period. Dudley & Shanley Inc. raised its holdings in Watsco by 40.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 78,012 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $32,510,000 after acquiring an additional 22,320 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Watsco by 76.5% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,875 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,949,000 after acquiring an additional 5,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Watsco during the second quarter worth approximately $6,563,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Up 0.4%

WSO opened at $316.27 on Wednesday. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $295.75 and a twelve month high of $459.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $342.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $376.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.41 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 14.40%. Watsco's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were paid a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Watsco Company 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.

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