Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Receives $422.71 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $422.7143.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WSO. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Watsco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $342.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79 and a beta of 1.01. Watsco has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $535.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $348.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $395.50.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Watsco will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Watsco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WSO. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the first quarter worth $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Watsco during the second quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in Watsco by 2,366.7% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 74 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in Watsco by 242.9% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.