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

Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $410.57.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Watsco from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, April 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watsco

In other Watsco news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.85, for a total transaction of $366,759.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $838,714.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director John Alexander Macdonald sold 5,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.41, for a total value of $2,487,830.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.85, for a total transaction of $366,759.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,770 shares in the company, valued at $838,714.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Watsco

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Watsco by 50.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 185,633 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after acquiring an additional 62,593 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Watsco by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,737 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $19,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Watsco by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 255,062 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,287,000 after acquiring an additional 28,047 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at about $751,000. Finally, Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $536,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE WSO opened at $510.55 on Friday. Watsco has a 1-year low of $337.58 and a 1-year high of $520.41. The company has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.27 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $481.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $439.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.09). Watsco had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 7.03%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Watsco will post 14.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th will be issued a $2.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 16th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.08%.

About Watsco

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.