Saturna Capital Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Saturna Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,263 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Watsco were worth $1,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,624,159 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,782,651,000 after acquiring an additional 346,470 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Watsco by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371,535 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $649,957,000 after purchasing an additional 118,713 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Watsco by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $577,350,000 after purchasing an additional 65,846 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,330 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $345,783,000 after purchasing an additional 63,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 590,500 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $279,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James began coverage on Watsco in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Watsco in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $486.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.21, for a total transaction of $5,589,293.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 12.86% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $506.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $487.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $494.76. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $393.88 and a 12-month high of $571.41. The company has a market cap of $20.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.51%.

Watsco 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.