Watsco, Inc. Expected to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $4.80 Per Share (NYSE:WSO)

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) – Research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for Watsco in a research note issued on Monday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the construction company will post earnings per share of $4.80 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $4.69. The consensus estimate for Watsco’s current full-year earnings is $14.17 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Watsco’s FY2024 earnings at $14.08 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $4.86 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.00 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $16.13 EPS.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.44). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 21.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.35 earnings per share.

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $396.00.

Watsco Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:WSO opened at $403.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.57 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 3.36. Watsco has a 1 year low of $313.27 and a 1 year high of $447.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $409.14 and a 200-day moving average of $398.02.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Watsco

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Watsco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $536,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the 4th quarter worth $4,070,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Watsco by 2.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 648,662 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $245,013,000 after purchasing an additional 16,589 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 295,833 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $126,756,000 after purchasing an additional 16,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,156,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $2.70 per share. This is a positive change from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.06%.

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.