Watsco (NYSE:WSO) Given New $400.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $370.00 to $400.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the construction company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 3.76% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WSO. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price target on Watsco in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Mizuho set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $416.29.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO stock traded down $3.71 during trading on Thursday, hitting $415.61. 62,458 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,290. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $375.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $378.71. Watsco has a twelve month low of $323.05 and a twelve month high of $533.07.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.