Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $397.7143.

WSO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th.

Watsco Stock Up 1.2%

WSO stock opened at $389.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33 and a beta of 1.05. Watsco has a 12 month low of $323.05 and a 12 month high of $494.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $401.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $384.89.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Watsco will post 12.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

Institutional Trading of Watsco

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 103.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 3.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,121 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $500,572,000 after buying an additional 16,595 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,014 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $214,373,000 after buying an additional 5,176 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after buying an additional 598,677 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.