JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Watsco (NYSE:WSO) Stock Price

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $360.00 to $370.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the construction company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 2.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on WSO. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $404.14.

Watsco Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:WSO traded up $0.05 on Friday, hitting $380.15. 37,356 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 360,170. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $348.83 and a 200-day moving average of $390.32. The stock has a market cap of $15.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.66 and a beta of 1.03. Watsco has a fifty-two week low of $323.05 and a fifty-two week high of $535.40.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that Watsco will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Watsco during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 2,366.7% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 242.9% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco in the third quarter worth $37,000. 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.