Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $1.06 Million in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,288 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 4.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,894 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,473,836,000 after purchasing an additional 146,305 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Watsco by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 792,011 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $342,125,000 after buying an additional 16,487 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. grew its holdings in Watsco by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 571,250 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $264,626,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Watsco by 1.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 393,032 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $182,068,000 after acquiring an additional 6,320 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 340,023 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $145,690,000 after acquiring an additional 15,552 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.71.

Watsco Stock Performance

Watsco stock opened at $491.81 on Wednesday. Watsco, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $338.58 and a fifty-two week high of $520.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $478.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $459.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 3.21. The stock has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83 and a beta of 0.88.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.42 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th were given a $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.08%.

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.