Watsco (NYSE:WSO) Price Target Cut to $420.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $460.00 to $420.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the construction company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target indicates a potential upside of 15.43% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WSO. DA Davidson began coverage on Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.88.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $363.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a PE ratio of 30.19 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $383.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $393.54. Watsco has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $491.55.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. Watsco’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Watsco will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Watsco

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WSO. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Watsco by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,564,423,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356,998 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,056,000 after purchasing an additional 598,677 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $110,853,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 202.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 472,182 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $159,102,000 after purchasing an additional 316,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 171,654 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.