Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $395.50.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WSO shares. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th.

Institutional Trading of Watsco

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WSO. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 710 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.7% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,115 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Watsco by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Watsco by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 7,814 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,633,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 783 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Price Performance

Watsco stock opened at $308.53 on Thursday. Watsco has a 1 year low of $300.66 and a 1 year high of $459.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $372.07 and a 200-day moving average of $389.28. The company has a market capitalization of $12.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 1.05.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.53%.Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.52 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Watsco will post 12.43 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were given a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 114.48%.

About Watsco

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.