Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Raises Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,299 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Watsco were worth $1,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Watsco by 10.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Watsco by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371,535 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $649,957,000 after purchasing an additional 118,713 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Watsco by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $577,350,000 after purchasing an additional 65,846 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Watsco by 9.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,330 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $345,783,000 after purchasing an additional 63,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Watsco by 9.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 464,061 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $228,263,000 after purchasing an additional 41,845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WSO. Loop Capital increased their target price 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 report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Watsco in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.86% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $504.82 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $488.48 and a 200 day moving average of $494.83. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $393.88 and a 12 month high of $571.41. The firm has a market cap of $20.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.10 and a beta of 0.92.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 7.04%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Watsco’s payout ratio is 81.51%.

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.