JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Watsco (NYSE:WSO) Stock Price

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $400.00 to $360.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the construction company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 1.95% from the company’s current price.

WSO has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $440.83.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO stock opened at $367.16 on Thursday. Watsco has a fifty-two week low of $350.00 and a fifty-two week high of $571.41. The business’s 50-day moving average is $387.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $431.12. The company has a market cap of $14.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68 and a beta of 0.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.60 by ($0.62). Watsco had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.04%.The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Watsco will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Watsco

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Watsco by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,557,610 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $791,734,000 after buying an additional 7,760 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Watsco by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,485,996 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $656,036,000 after buying an additional 31,484 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Watsco by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 814,712 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $414,118,000 after buying an additional 43,776 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Watsco by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 496,428 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $252,335,000 after buying an additional 18,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Watsco by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $238,329,000 after buying an additional 180,951 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

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.