Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Watsco (NYSE:WSO) Stock Price

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $370.00 to $405.00 in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the construction company’s stock.

WSO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen raised Watsco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Stephens increased their price target on Watsco from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson began coverage on Watsco in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $402.71.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE WSO traded up $6.53 on Friday, hitting $384.26. 268,315 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 317,500. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $393.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $391.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.89 and a beta of 1.02. Watsco has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $494.94.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The construction company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 6.85%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Watsco will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.54%.

Institutional Trading of Watsco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Watsco by 103.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,642,893 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,564,423,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356,998 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 60,779.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 599,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,056,000 after purchasing an additional 598,677 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at about $110,853,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 202.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 472,182 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $159,102,000 after purchasing an additional 316,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Watsco by 12,054.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 173,078 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,975,000 after purchasing an additional 171,654 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.