William Blair Issues Negative Outlook for Watsco Earnings

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) – Equities researchers at William Blair decreased their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for Watsco in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now expects that the construction company will post earnings per share of $5.10 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $5.12. The consensus estimate for Watsco’s current full-year earnings is $14.62 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Watsco’s FY2026 earnings at $16.40 EPS.

WSO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James assumed coverage on Watsco in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Watsco in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $495.00.

Watsco Stock Down 3.3 %

NYSE WSO opened at $498.12 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $484.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $492.37. Watsco has a twelve month low of $380.58 and a twelve month high of $571.41. The company has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Institutional Trading of Watsco

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WSO. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,624,159 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,782,651,000 after purchasing an additional 346,470 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth about $118,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 48,984.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 233,643 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $114,924,000 after purchasing an additional 233,167 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth about $104,533,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth about $63,603,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.21, for a total value of $5,589,293.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 12.86% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.51%.

Watsco Company Profile

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.