William Blair Forecasts Watsco's Q1 Earnings (NYSE:WSO)

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) - Research analysts at William Blair issued their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Watsco in a report issued on Wednesday, April 9th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel forecasts that the construction company will post earnings per share of $2.50 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Watsco's current full-year earnings is $14.62 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Watsco's Q2 2026 earnings at $5.52 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $5.46 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.83 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $16.31 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $17.77 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WSO. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Watsco in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Watsco in a report on Monday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $515.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $492.00.

Watsco Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of WSO stock traded down $1.67 during trading on Thursday, hitting $510.15. The company had a trading volume of 49,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,241. The stock's 50-day moving average is $497.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $499.05. Watsco has a 52 week low of $396.82 and a 52 week high of $571.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.50 and a beta of 1.00.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.24. Watsco had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 7.04%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This is an increase from Watsco's previous quarterly dividend of $2.70. Watsco's payout ratio is 90.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WSO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 89,376.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 477,802 shares of the construction company's stock worth $242,867,000 after buying an additional 477,268 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter worth about $118,312,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth $104,533,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at $63,603,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Watsco by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371,535 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $649,957,000 after purchasing an additional 118,713 shares during the period. 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.