Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

by · The Cerbat Gem

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO – Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $469.80.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on WSO

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Watsco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First PREMIER Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 100.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 58 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Watsco during the second quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Up 1.7 %

WSO opened at $495.18 on Friday. Watsco has a one year low of $338.58 and a one year high of $520.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $477.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $468.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.09 and a beta of 0.88.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 7.02%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.42 EPS. Analysts predict that Watsco will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 16th. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 83.08%.

About Watsco

(Get Free Report

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.

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