Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Receives $409.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $409.00.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Watsco

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 89.2% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,808 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,286,000 after acquiring an additional 17,820 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 47.7% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 124,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,452,000 after acquiring an additional 40,326 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 577.9% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,957 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,069,000 after acquiring an additional 17,013 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 237.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,629 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 3,961 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,392,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $382.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58 and a beta of 1.06. Watsco has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $518.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $392.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $373.14.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.Watsco’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Watsco will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th will be given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.00%.

Watsco Company Profile

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.