Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $62.74 Million Stock Position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,393 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,630 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.33% of Watsco worth $62,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth $118,312,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,603,000. 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 acquiring an additional 118,713 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in Watsco by 2,128.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 107,463 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $52,880,000 after purchasing an additional 102,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Watsco by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $577,350,000 after purchasing an additional 65,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James started coverage on Watsco in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.25.

Watsco Stock Down 2.6 %

Watsco stock opened at $500.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.22 billion, a PE ratio of 37.77 and a beta of 0.92. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $396.82 and a 12-month high of $571.42. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $496.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $498.18.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for 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, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Watsco’s payout ratio is 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.