PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Invests $6.53 Million in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab opened a new position in Watsco during Q4, buying 19,031 shares valued at about $6.53 million, and institutional investors now own 89.71% of the company after several large stake increases by funds like Capital International, M&T and Two Sigma.
• Watsco beat quarterly expectations with $1.87 EPS (vs. $1.73 expected) and $1.53 billion in revenue, and analysts project the company will post about 12.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $3.30 (annualized $13.20), yielding roughly 3.2%, though the payout ratio is high at 109.54%.

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 19,031 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $6,528,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WSO. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 741.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,285,895 shares of the construction company's stock worth $924,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014,233 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company's stock worth $202,056,000 after purchasing an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 12,054.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company's stock worth $69,975,000 after purchasing an additional 171,654 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 106.4% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company's stock worth $130,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 470,177 shares of the construction company's stock worth $159,293,000 after purchasing an additional 113,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company's stock.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $414.97 on Tuesday. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $496.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $398.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $377.09. The company has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44 and a beta of 1.12.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 12.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a $3.30 dividend. This is a boost from Watsco's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Watsco's payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research raised shares of Watsco from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $399.83.

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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