Watsco, Inc. (WSO) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $2.70 on January 31st

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 2nd,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of 2.70 per share by the construction company on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th.

Watsco has raised its dividend by an average of 12.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Watsco has a dividend payout ratio of 74.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Watsco to earn $14.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $10.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 74.4%.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO stock opened at $475.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77 and a beta of 0.95. Watsco has a one year low of $373.33 and a one year high of $571.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $511.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $492.23.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.73 by ($0.51). The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 6.99% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Watsco will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Watsco

In other news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.21, for a total transaction of $5,589,293.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 12.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSO has been the topic of several research reports. Northcoast Research started coverage on Watsco in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Watsco from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

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.