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

Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $395.50.

A number of analysts have recently commented on WSO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Watsco from $385.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $400.00 price target on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, July 30th. 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 report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Watsco in a research note on Monday, August 17th.

Watsco Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:WSO opened at $310.89 on Monday. Watsco has a 52 week low of $295.75 and a 52 week high of $459.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $355.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $382.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.96 and a beta of 1.05.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Watsco will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 35,175.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 19,402,949 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,085,791,000 after buying an additional 19,347,945 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after buying an additional 2,356,998 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,559,965 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $525,634,000 after buying an additional 46,799 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Watsco by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $500,572,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Watsco by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $214,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

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.