Watsco (NYSE:WSO) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Watsco (NYSE:WSO) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

WSO has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $370.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $409.00.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO opened at $417.46 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $384.74 and a 200-day moving average of $378.61. The company has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47 and a beta of 1.04. Watsco has a 1-year low of $323.05 and a 1-year high of $533.07.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 6.87%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Watsco will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Watsco

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Watsco by 89.2% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,808 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,286,000 after acquiring an additional 17,820 shares in the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 124,789 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,452,000 after purchasing an additional 40,326 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 577.9% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,957 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,069,000 after purchasing an additional 17,013 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Watsco by 237.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,629 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Watsco in the third quarter worth $1,392,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

About Watsco

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.