William Blair Has Negative Outlook of Watsco FY2024 Earnings

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) – Equities researchers at William Blair decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Watsco in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 23rd. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now forecasts that the construction company will earn $12.75 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $13.74. The consensus estimate for Watsco’s current full-year earnings is $13.78 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Watsco’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.86 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.22 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $5.07 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.13 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.37 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $14.80 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WSO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $475.90 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Watsco has a 52 week low of $340.52 and a 52 week high of $520.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $482.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $474.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.61 and a beta of 0.88.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.73 by ($0.51). The business had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.35 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Watsco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WSO. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Watsco by 48,984.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 233,643 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $114,924,000 after purchasing an additional 233,167 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 263.6% during the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 320,008 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,234,000 after buying an additional 231,987 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Watsco in the 1st quarter valued at about $90,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,894 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,473,836,000 after acquiring an additional 146,305 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 185,633 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after purchasing an additional 62,593 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 16th will be given a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 16th. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.08%.

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.