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

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $433.71.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Watsco

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $102,958,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Watsco by 263.6% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 320,008 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,234,000 after buying an additional 231,987 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the first quarter valued at approximately $90,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 4.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,894 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,473,836,000 after acquiring an additional 146,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 1,005.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 103,143 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,194,000 after acquiring an additional 93,810 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO opened at $476.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Watsco has a 12-month low of $338.58 and a 12-month high of $520.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $481.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $448.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64 and a beta of 0.88.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.70 by ($0.21). Watsco had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 7.02%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Watsco will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th were paid a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is 83.08%.

About Watsco

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.