Brokerages Set Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) PT at $396.00

Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $396.00.

Separately, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Watsco from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $536,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $4,070,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 648,662 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $245,013,000 after acquiring an additional 16,589 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 295,833 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $126,756,000 after acquiring an additional 16,006 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,156,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $401.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a PE ratio of 29.42 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $408.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $398.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Watsco has a 1-year low of $314.87 and a 1-year high of $447.49.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.44). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 21.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.35 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Watsco will post 14.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $2.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.06%.

Watsco Company Profile

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.