Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $2.70

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 2nd,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of 2.70 per share by the construction company on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th.

Watsco has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Watsco has a payout ratio of 66.9% indicating that 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 Trading Up 1.1 %

Watsco stock opened at $481.59 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $510.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $492.04. Watsco has a 12-month low of $373.33 and a 12-month high of $571.41. The stock has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.22 and a beta of 0.95.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released 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). Watsco had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 6.99%. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Watsco will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 12.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WSO shares. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Watsco in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Watsco from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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.