Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Receives $480.83 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $480.83.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Watsco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho set a $490.00 price objective on Watsco in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Watsco from $560.00 to $540.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Watsco in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Watsco from $475.00 to $455.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 89,376.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 477,802 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $242,867,000 after purchasing an additional 477,268 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $118,312,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $104,533,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 62.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company's stock worth $238,329,000 after buying an additional 180,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $63,603,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company's stock.

Watsco Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of WSO traded up $13.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $492.29. The company had a trading volume of 219,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,516. The firm has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.15 and a beta of 1.11. Watsco has a 12 month low of $439.08 and a 12 month high of $571.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $490.08 and a 200-day moving average of $497.02.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.36). Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. Watsco's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Watsco will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This is a positive change from Watsco's previous quarterly dividend of $2.70. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Watsco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.24%.

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.